Thailand's Rank Up As Japanese Investors' Destination

UPDATE : 24 February 2010
Thailand has been ranked fourth, up from fifth, for being an attractive investment destination among Japanese firms as the Board of Investment gears up for a road show in Japan next month. It believes the net investment application value will reach 500 billion baht this year.

Senior economist of Japan Bank for International Cooperation, or JBIC, in Singapore, Susumu Ushida, reported the annual survey results of Japanese investors for the year 2009. The results showed that Thailand was ranked fourth for being a major manufacturing base for Japanese firms, after China, India, and Vietnam. The Kingdom went up from the fifth place in 2008, replacing Russia in the fourth place. The Japanese think Thailand has market potential but remains a low labor-cost destination. On this development, Stock Exchange of Thailand President Patareeya Benjapolchai said Japanese investors are still concerned about higher competition, a lack of executive personnel and political uncertainty. Therefore, these constraints should be taken care of quickly. Patareeya said the view of Japanese investors has already shifted from export production to domestic sales, so they are now focusing on the market size of destination countries. Outstanding industries include chemical and electronics parts, in place of automobile parts, which is experiencing a sales decline following the economic crisis. Meanwhile, secretary general of Thailand's Board of Investment, or BoI, Atchaka Sribunruang Brimble, is confident that promotion efforts will result in 500 billion baht more in value of new investment applications, or an average of 40 billion baht per month, as targeted. Atchaka revealed that the net application value of 50 billion baht in January was a good sign. Most of the businesses asking for incentives deal with power generation, automobiles, food and electronic components. She said the BoI and the Finance Ministry will conduct a road show in Japan between March 12 and 13. To attract Japanese investors, Thai authorities will explain the government's policies on the economy, the ongoing political situation and developments in solving the Map Ta Phut industrial deadlock. According to Thailand's central bank, Japan is one of Thailand's major trade partners and investors. Export value of the Thai products to Japan ranked second, with a total value of 15.7 billion US dollars in 2009. Japan is also the biggest direct investor in Thailand during the past five years. The net Japanese investment value in the Kingdom was more than 2.1 billion US dollars last year.