The President of the Thai Traders Representatives said Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent today met with the Prime Minister to discuss the corporation’s interest in increasing investment in Thailand. The company has acknowledged Thailand’s ability to effectively respond to the recent global economic downturn and wishes to step up investments by 1 billion baht per year.

Mr Muhtar informed the PM that a major point in Coca-Cola’s consideration was pricing regulations and excise taxes which currently differed from beverage to beverage, causing what the company saw as unfair standards. The CEO said Coca-Cola was poised to intensify investment in Thailand if the regulations were altered.