Thailand to expand investment overseas

BANGKOK, February 25 (TNA) - The Board of Investment of Thailand (BOI), under the Ministry of Industry, is encouraging Thai business operators to expand their investment overseas, especially in other fellow countries in the ASEAN Community (AC). New BOI Secretary-General Hirunya Suchinai told journalists on February 24 that BOI will continue to encourage Thai business operators to expand their investment abroad by providing in-depth information on every industrial sector, arranging training sessions for Thai potential investors, providing legal advisory services by foreign-based law firms and forming networks and cooperation in both the public and private sectors of the targeted countries. Hirunya said BOI has, especially, targeted three group of countries for Thai investors, the first group of which comprises Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, also known as CLMV, where there is growth potential in agriculture, automobile parts, garments, processed seafood and construction materials. According to the new BOI chief, the second group comprises other fellow countries in AC, including Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei, where there is strong growth in automobile parts, motorcycles, processed seafood and processed petrochemical products, while the third group comprises new markets, including Uganda, Sri Lanka, Mongolia and Uzbekistan, where there is high potential for Thai investors in fishing, garments, construction materials, mining, renewable energy and processed agriculture. Meanwhile, Chollada Areerajjakul, Chief of BOI’s Thai Overseas Investment Promotion Division, revealed that BOI will provide more in-depth information to potential investors this year, while also leading Thai business operators to explore investment opportunities overseas and to build up their networks there. (TNA)