Thai operators urged to invest in southwestern China and to prepare for AEC

BAGNKOK, May 3 (TNA) - Thai business operators have been urged to expand their trade and investment to southwestern China, adjacent to the Thai border, namely Kunming, Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Xi’an and Guangxi, where demand for consumer products remains high with limited investment projects from the West. In a discussion in Bangkok today on Thailand’s opportunities in Southeast Asia and China, Thanakorn Seriburi, Vice Board Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the Industrial Division of the Charoen Pokphand (CP Group), acknowledged that China has maintained its steady economic growth for over three decades due to its stable politics and good human resource development, with its gross domestic product (GDP) foreseen to grow by up to 8-9 per cent this year. Thanakorn suggested that it appears to be a good opportunity for Thai business operators to expand their trade and investment in China, particularly in the Chinese southwestern areas, as businesses in major Chinese cities, like Beijing and Shanghi, are now full of competitors from the West and require huge funds. Regarding the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015, Thanakorn said it should be the most beneficial to Thailand, thanks to sound long-time relations between Bangkok and Beijing, pointing out that as many as 1.7 million Chinese people visited Thailand last year alone and Chinese-blooded business operators in Thailand have understood Chinese business persons well. Besides, according to the CP CEO, infrastructures in Thailand are modern and facilitate international business operators; so, China are expected to do more businesses with Thailand. The CP CEO, however, urged Thai business operators, especially small and medium-sized entrepreneurs (SMEs), to prepare themselves for the establishment of the single economic community of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations by 2015, as the combined population of the AEC together with China have now amounted to two billion, a quarter of the total world population. The CP senior executive also recommended that Thai business operators develop high-valued products and high productivity, and the Thai government send some 5,000 Thai students to study in all Chinese provinces yearly to learn about China's economic development, noting that, based on the move, as many as 25,000 Thai people who are capable and know the Chinese language will return to further boost the Thai economy within five years. (TNA)