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Japan and China boosting foreign investment in Thailand |
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Thailand -
Investment news
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Friday, 29 July 2011 10:29 |
Japan and China boosting foreign investment in Thailand
Thailand’s Board of Investment reports a 5-month investment value of more than Bt200 billion ($6.6 billon), thanks to Investment from Japan and China boosting foreign investment growth to 64%. Total investment in the first five months of this year has already surpassed Bt200 billion, with 725 new project applications with total investment value of Bt208 billion. This amount accounts for more than half of the total target for the entire year 2011 of Bt400 billion. Foreign investment grew by 64 per cent while investment by SMEs expanded by 525 per cent.
Dr. Atchaka Sibunruang, Secretary General of the Board of Investment, disclosed that at the BOI board meeting chaired by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, the BOI reported the successful five-month investment record. From January through May 2011, investment in Thailand expanded in terms of both the number of projects and investment value. Investment applications included 725 projects with a total value of Bt208 billion, representing more than half of the entire year’s target of at least Bt400 billion.
Considered in terms of the number of investment projects, this year growth was 51 per cent greater than the same period last year (480 projects). Investment value increased by 25 per cent year-on-year against Bt166 billion in 2010.
The most attractive businesses have been in the metal, machinery and transport equipment industries, which attracted 184 projects with a total investment of Bt63 billion. The second most attractive sectors have been service and infrastructure, with 154 projects and a Bt42 billion investment value. Following these were chemical products, paper and plastics (99 projects, Bt37 billion), and electronics and electrical appliances (108 projects, Bt28 billion), respectively.
“A positive investment trend has been strong since the beginning of this year,” said Dr. Sibunruang. “In addition to enhancing confidence in Thailand as an investment hub, the government’s policy to promote target industries has also been given a strong welcome by investors. The terms of the policy include, for example, promotion for business operators investing in upgrading production machinery to achieve better energy saving and less environmental impact.
At present many businesses have responded to the policy, and total investment under this measure was more than Bt2.416 billion. Another policy is to include more businesses and to improve investment incentive conditions for SMEs. It has already attracted 92 projects, an increase of 178 per cent over 2010, while investment value grew by 525 per cent to Bt3.709 billion as compared with Bt593 million last year.”
Foreign direct investment (FDI) has also shown a positive trend. In the past five months, BOI has received applications from 431 projects with a total Bt141.196 billion investment value. Japanese investors are the most important in terms of number of projects and investment value.
A total of 221 projects from Japanese investors, with a Bt57.438 billion investment value, have applied for investment incentives from the BOI. This represents a 77 per cent growth over last year and accounted for 41 per cent of total foreign investment during the first five months of this year. Most of the investment was in automotive and electronic part production projects.
China is the second largest investor with Bt20.5 billion in investment value, accounting for 15 per cent of the total FDI. One of the major projects is a Bt19 billion car tire production project.
Investment from the United States ranked third. Despite its total value of only Bt3.373 billion during the first five months of the year, the US also invested Bt3.191billion in a mining equipment and machinery production project, and Bt4.372 billion in a backhoe production project, through Singaporean companies. The aggregated Bt10.936 billion investment value has placed the US third on the list.
Investment from Singapore was Bt10.3 billion, accounting for 7 per cent of the total FDI. Major investment projects are integrated circuits, machinery and equipment production.
Total investment from Hong Kong was Bt10.096 billion, or 7 per cent of the FDI. Major projects are black liquor electricity generating, amusement park, and hotel projects.
By www.investments.by Investments in Thailand and other SEA countries. |
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Last Updated on Friday, 29 July 2011 12:58 |
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Thailand’s Economy to Perform Well in 2011 World Bank Says |
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Thailand -
Economy
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Friday, 29 July 2011 10:25 |
Thailand’s Economy to Perform Well in 2011 World Bank Says
Despite the recent surge in oil prices, Thailand’s economy will continue to expand in 2011 and the pace of economic activity will move closer to that observed before the global financial crisis, the World Bank said in a new report. However, the risks to the outlook have also increased.
In the report, Thailand Economic Monitor April 2011, the World Bank said Thailand’s economic growth has broadened its base, with domestic consumption contributing more to growth than in the recent past and exports holding up well against the uncertain global outlook. Concerns about high prices of food and fuel are likely to persist in 2011, but the Thai economy is expected to weather these rough currents and post a solid performance during the year.
Thailand closed 2010 on a strong note, posting positive growth in the last quarter after two consecutive quarters of contraction. This momentum should continue into 2011.
The World Bank now predicts that Thailand’s gross domestic product would expand 3.7 percent in 2011.
This puts Thailand back on its growth trend after the exceptionally high growth of 2010 and contraction in 2009. It represents an upward revision from the previous estimate of 3.2 percent, based on the improved outlook for advanced economies and the continuation of favorable drivers of domestic demand, especially firm agricultural prices which help boost the income of rural consumers.
Despite this generally favorable assessment, the Bank also believes that risks to the outlook are substantial, citing a number of external factors: the possibility of further oil price increases due to turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa, the follow-on impact on Europe’s debt crisis and the United States’ fragile economic recovery, and the disruption to the auto and electronics industries’ supply chains caused by Japan’s recent earthquake.
The impact of higher oil prices on the Thai economy has been cushioned thus far by the government’s diesel subsidy program and increasing exports of products that also experienced price gains, said Frederico Gil Sander, the World Bank’s Country Economist for Thailand and lead author of Thailand Economic Monitor April 2011. Meanwhile, higher crop prices have helped to increase farm income, boosting overall wages and household consumption accordingly.
However, the World Bank warned that higher food prices could hurt Thailand’s most vulnerable population, those below or just above the poverty line. Also, further hikes in oil prices would eventually hurt everyone.
“Back in 2008, the spike in food prices led to an increase in poverty rates in Thailand for the first time since 1997. This suggests that higher food prices hurt the poorest in society even though many farmers may benefit,”Mr. Gil Sander said.
“If oil prices continue to increase to new highs, even those farmers who can sell their crops at higher prices may see the income gains reversed since they will face both a higher cost of living but also higher costs of key inputs like fertilizer.”
The Bank recommended a number of short- and long-term measures to help Thailand manage the risks of spiraling food and oil prices in the future. In the short term, replacing oil price subsidies with targeted assistance programs could help re-direct government support and scarce resources toward the neediest households. The pace of interest rate increases, meanwhile, should carefully balance the need to curb inflation with the impact of higher rates on economic activity during what is still an ongoing recovery.
In the long term, improving energy efficiency and reducing dependence on imported energy would help Thailand manage the risk of another oil price shock, the report said. Further, as the world population continues to grow and the impact of climate change threatens global food security, investing to improve the reliability of food production could help Thailand respond to another food crisis more effectively.
“Making agriculture more climate-resilient is key to improving agricultural productivity,” Mr. Gil Sander said. “This is the second time in three years that the world is experiencing a sharp increase in food prices, which suggests that the phenomenon is not temporary. Global demand for agricultural commodities will continue to increase. You want to be able to produce more food and do it more reliably to reduce your vulnerability to higher food prices.”
Thailand Economic Monitor is a semi-annual publication by the World Bank.
By www.investments.by Investments in Thailand and other SEA countries. |
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Last Updated on Friday, 29 July 2011 14:05 |
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Thailand: Pattaya and Eastern Seaboard Property Newsletter, June 2011 |
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Thailand -
Investment news
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Monday, 20 June 2011 20:50 |
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Thailand: Pattaya and Eastern Seaboard Property Newsletter, June 2011
June 2011 Not a great deal has changed in the weeks since my last newsletter. Still, that is not really a bad thing, particularly bearing in mind that we are in the middle of the so-called low season, one in which we are having quite a lot more rain than is normal, and yet business is ticking over relatively well.
However, one never really knows what lies ahead and so,
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Last Updated on Monday, 20 June 2011 20:57 |
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Таиланд: Покупка недвижимости |
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Thailand -
Real Estate
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Saturday, 07 May 2011 12:50 |
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Таиланд: Покупка недвижимости
Иностранец, покупая землю или недвижимость в Таиланде, безусловно, сталкивается с определенными трудностями. Тем не менее, этот рынок сейчас настолько привлекателен для инвестиций, что многие принимают местные правила игры и специфику.
Основные ограничения состоят в том, что нерезидент не может приобрести земельный участок, на котором находится недвижимость и, кроме того, ему не разрешат инвестировать в кондоминиум, где иностранная собственность уже
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Last Updated on Saturday, 07 May 2011 12:53 |
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