Investment flourishing in Thai East ahead of AEC

CHANTABURI, THAILAND, May 15 (TNA) - International investors have poured into two Thai districts in the eastern Chantaburi Province, bordering Cambodia, ahead of the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by the end of 2015. Jirachai Hatchaleelaha, Manager of state-run Krung Thai Bank (KTB), Chantaburi’s Soi Dao Branch, told journalists on Wednesday that international business operators, including those from neighbouring Cambodia and other Thai areas, have continued flooding to invest in Chantaburi's Soi Dao and Pong Namron Districts, with their total invesment amounting to over one billion baht so far, in the lead-up to next year's establishment of the Single Market among member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Jirachai acknowledged that land prices in the two border districts have soared about three times consequently, compared to those over the past two years, in line with market demand for local plots of land by the international investors. According to the KTB manager, several plots of land in the two border districts have been purchased to construct commercial buildings, factories, warehouses, central fruit and vegetable markets, as well as cross-border trade-related businesses in preparations for the AEC by 2015. (TNA)