Chinese investment applications in Thailand double this year

Jul 27, 2009, 11:20 GMT

   Bangkok - Chinese companies seeking investment privileges in Thailand have almost doubled in the first half of 2009 despite the ongoing global economic crisis, the country's main investment promotion body said Monday.

   Although Chinese foreign direct investment in Thailand is still far below that of Japan, the United States and Europe, Chinese companies were ranked among the most active to pursue new investments this year, the Board of Investment (BOI) said.

   'For the first half of 2009, 10 projects from China worth 507 million baht [15 million dollars] have already applied for BOI promotional incentives,' Sibunruang Brimble, the board's secretary general, said at a seminar in Pattaya, 100 kilometres south-east of Bangkok. 'The investment value has doubled compared to the same period of last year.'

   In all, 277 Chinese projects have been granted investment promotion certificates with total investments worth 36 billion baht, the board said.

   The three-day Thai-Chinese Business Forum has drawn 800 business leaders from 300 companies from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau and 500 representatives of Thai firms. The event was expected to help generate about 20 billion baht in trade and investment between the two countries.

   Many Thai firms have been looking to China, whose economy was expected to grow 8 per cent this year, as a market for their exports as their traditional markets in the United States and the European Union have dried up amid the economic downturn.

   'With the population of 1.3 billion, China has the world's largest domestic market,' Thai Industry Minister Chanchai Chairungruang said in his opening remarks to the business forum.

   'Around 200 million of these consumers have high purchasing power,' the minister said. 'The country offers great opportunities for large Thai companies as well as small and medium-sized enterprises.'