Mr. Ittipol Changlam, deputy director-general of the Business Development Department, Ministry of Commerce, made public that in the month of September, a meeting of the Alien Business Committee gave approval to 33 foreign nationals to manage businesses in Thailand. The businesses involve a total investment of 4.19 billion THB and the employment of 3,488 Thai nationals. They are divided into 20 service businesses with a combined capital of 2.58 billion THB, six broker agencies using a capital of 22 million THB, five wholesale businesses using 1.57 billion THB as capital, and one business seeking partnership contracts with government agencies and state enterprises, with a capital of 6 million THB. There is also an alien broker using 9 million THB in capital. Over the first 9 months of the year, the committee has already given approval to 251 foreign nationals wishing to run businesses in Thailand. The combined capital of these ventures stands at over 10 billion THB. From centerweb