Bangkok--7 May--SET The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), in collaboration with the Thai Investor Relations (IR) Club, is fostering a deeper understanding of IR among listed companies’ staff and executives. The inclusion of the IR Excellence Award 2008 in this year’s SET Awards demonstrates its importance to the bourse. IR develops good governance by making communication with investors more efficient and transparent, SET Executive Vice President Suthichai Chitvanich said. “The Exchange is a strong supporter of IR and provides financial and staff assistance to the Thai IR Club. SET encourages all those involved in the area to join the club and participate in its activities which help listed firms communicate more effectively with investors, analysts and the media. Share prices and fundraising benefit when a company’s fundamentals are better communicated and understood,” Mr. Suthichai said. The success of IR is dependent on the commitment of senior executives. Last year, a survey of 44 firms in SET100 Index (but excluding those in SET50 Index) revealed that five areas merited attention: IR planning, budgeting, information disclosure policy, internal reporting, and training. This year the Exchange and Thai IR Club will host seminars, forums, workshops and networking events directed at listed firms. On April 30, there was an IR seminar for 64 firms with the potential to list on SET or the Market for Alternative Investment. To encourage senior executives to commit to IR, SET and Thai IR Club will hold small-group training and company visits. Initially, the focus will be on 50 companies in FTSE SET All Shares (but not in SET100 Index). Another key event, the IR Excellence Award, will be judged using data from a survey of listed firms and the opinions of analysts and institutional investors. The Exchange’s projected IR best practices guide will deal with subjects such as IR websites, annual reports, presentations, press releases, disclosure policies and internal reports. In 2007, SET held eight educational sessions for 980 attendees and advised three firms on IR — Asian Insulators PCL, Home Product Center PCL, and Thai Stanley Electric PCL. Thai IR Club was established in 2001 and currently is under the support of SET’s Corporate Governance (CG) and IR Center. It has 325 corporate and 428 individual members, increases of 67% and 55% over 2006, respectively. Central Pattana PCL Executive Vice President and CFO Naris Cheyklin is the president and their board has another 16 directors. For more information or to apply for membership, please visit www.thaiirclub.com or contact SET’s CG and IR Club on 0-2229-2602-3.