Bangkok--24 Feb--SET
“Thailand still is a top choice as an important production base for Japanese investors. This year, Thailand is ranked at the fourth place after China, India and Vietnam — which is up from the fifth place in 2008. This notable ranking is attributed to the large domestic market, its low wages, and strong platform as production base for re-export. However, Thailand should urgently address certain challenges, including its intense domestic competition, a lack of personnel at management level, and political instability,” noted senior economist and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) Chief Representative, Singapore, Mr. Susumu Ushida, concluded from “The 2009 JBIC Survey Report on Overseas Business Operations by Japanese Manufacturing Companies.” At this event, besides presenting survey results, The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) and JBIC also held a discussion on “Thailand: A Promising Country for Foreign Companies,” with top executives from the public and private sectors exchanging expert viewpoints, which are of great benefits to Thai operators and companies conducting businesses with Japanese investors and partners.
“JBIC and SET’s cooperation to distribute the survey results will facilitate both trading and investment activities and flows to Thailand, in particular the activities and flows from Japanese entities. . Furthermore, it will help Thailand to remain an important production bases for foreign investors,” said SET President Ms. Patareeya Benjapolchai.
Bank of Thailand statistics reveal that Japan is one of the most important trading and investment partners of Thailand. For the past five years, Japan was Thailand’s second largest export destination; only the U.S. was a bigger market for Thai exports. In 2009, Thai exports to Japan registered at USD 15.7 billion. Meanwhile, Japanese direct investment in Thailand consistently ranked on the top list for the past five years. In 2009, Japanese direct investment in Thailand reached over USD 2.1 billion.
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