The cabinet meeting on Tuesday 22, December 2009 has come to the following decision:
The cabinet approved in principle the draft of ministerial regulation number... (Year....) that is obliged by the Revenue Code regarding tax exemption (tax measures to support retirement savings), as proposed by the Ministry of Finance. The draft has been forwarded to the Council of State for review and then carry on.
Content
The law will exempt personal income tax or tax on any financial gains that are from retirement saving that is legal and in accordance with retirement saving laws for any employee who resigns or ends the person's status as an employee due to retirement, disability, or death. The exemption will be available to both one-time payment and term payment requests. Those who have transferred their retirement fund to a new retirement fund will also be eligible.
The cabinet acknowledged and agreed with the following proposals, as advised by the Secretary General of the Office of National Economic and Social Development Board and the board and Secretary General of the Economic Cabinet.
1. The cabinet acknowledged the result of the 18th/2009 Economic Cabinet Meeting.
2. Deputy Prime Minister Korbsak Sabhavasu was assigned to coordinate with the panel solving the compliance problem of the article 67 paragraph 2 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand. The panel has been tasked with amending the draft of ministerial regulation, titled "Regulation, Procedure, Code of Conduct, and Direction of Compiling Environmental Impact Assessment and Health Impact Assessment Reports for Potentially Hazardous Industry", a task that should be completed by the end of December 2009. The issue of establishing independent agencies according to the constitution is separated from the issue of amending the draft of ministerial regulation, and the establishment of independent agencies should be done in a careful fashion. The government should speed up the enactment of related laws only when the issue of the establishment of independent agencies is resolved.
3. The Ministry of Industry was assigned to compile a report on the status of the private sector's projects and all fact related to the investment, including impacts and solutions. The report must be completed by Friday December 18, 2009, and presented to the cabinet on Tuesday December 22, 2009.
4. The Ministry of Energy was assigned to compile the report on the status of the state enterprises' energy projects and all the fact related to the investment, including impacts and solutions. The report must be completed by Friday December 18, 2009, and presented to the cabinet on Tuesday December 22, 2009.
5. The cabinet acknowledged that the Ministry of Finance will let the private sector take over the operation of Thailand Privilege Card and that the Ministry of Finance will begin the procedure and consult with related laws.
6. The cabinet endorsed the amendment of the 1961 Ministry of the Office of the Prime Minister's regulation on divestment of publicly owned enterprise or enterprise partly owned by public or state enterprises, as advised by the Economic Cabinet Ministers. The amendment requires the representative from the auditor general committee (now the Office of Auditor General) removed from the committee required by the ministerial regulation and be replaced by representative from the State Enterprise Policy Office, who will serve as the secretary general. Related agencies were assigned to carry on the amendment process and present it to the cabinet for further consideration.
The cabinet endorsed the direction of reliefs for those affected by the Supreme Administrative Court's injunction that has halted 65 projects required the compliance of article 67 paragraph 2, as proposed by the Minister of Industry. It also assigned the following agencies to:
1. The Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Energy were assigned to support and coordinate with the private sector in preparing the clarification to the court on issues that certain projects could be permitted to go on.
2. The Ministry of Industry was assigned to coordinate with the Ministry of Labour for consideration of relief package for those, whose employment was affected, and presenting it to the cabinet.
3. The Ministry of Energy was assigned to compile a report on detail of the solution to Thailand's domestic LPG shortage and to present it to the cabinet.
The cabinet endorsed the resolution of the committee on the Conservation and Utilisation of Biological Diversity and the opinion of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, as proposed by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources.
1. The cabinet endorsed 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity for Thailand.
2. It also endorsed work plan for the International Year of Biodiversity and assigned related agencies to allocate budget for divisions to operate under the plan.
Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban the chairman of the National Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Committee authorised the Ministry of Interior through the National Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Committee to pursue the project for 2010 which is the year of Fire Prevention in Households and Business Establishments Campaign under the 2010 Budget. The 2010 Year of Fire Prevention in Households and Business Establishments Campaign's main activities include:
1. Publicise, campaign, and distribute the knowledge and importance of installing alarm device or alarm system, such as, smoke detector, fire alarm, and mobile fire extinguisher, in households and business establishments that are prone to fire accident.
2. Organise a week of fire prevention campaign on provincial level and in Bangkok in order to distribute, publicise, and educate the people the importance of installing fire prevention device as well as the basic knowledge of fire prevention and fire extinguishing.
3. Organise a motto and invention competitions for students and general public. The National Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Committee has notified a total of 352 agencies, including 174 government agencies, 68 businesses, 12 state enterprise entities, 15 independent organisations, 9 foundations, 70 university departments, and 4 international organisations, to cooperate and publicise the 2010 project for Fire Prevention in Households and Business Establishments Campaign.
The cabinet acknowledged the result of the 15th Conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP15) and the 5th Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP5), as proposed by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources. The summary of the head of state/government level meeting is the following.
The conference considered the Copenhagen Accord which would be used as decision-/CP15, and decision-/CMP5. The Danish government drafted the Copenhagen Accord, of which the Danish Prime Minister had unofficially consulted with 26 leaders from selected countries based on group representation, consisting of both developed and developing countries who are the biggest green house gases emitter, such as, Brazil, South Africa, India, China, Indonesia, United States, and Russia. Those who represented the region were Saudi Arabia, Lesotho, Algeria, Ethiopia, Sweden, Australia, and Mexico. The meeting aimed to provide a discussion for leaders to agree on the draft of the accord which would be used as a resolution for COP15 and CMP5.
During the head of state/government level meeting, the Prime Minister, as the chief of Thai delegates, gave a speech on behalf of the Kingdom of Thailand and as the ASEAN chairman in support of pursuing goals according to the accord, seeking pledges of international organisations and developed nations' both financial and technical supports for developing nations and transitioning nations in accordance with the accord. The Thai delegates, in addition, provided opinions during the Plenary Meeting and several sub committee meetings.
--Cabinet Meeting (Abhisit Vejjajiva) December 22, 2009--