Investors wary after recent political mayhem

BANGKOK, June 3 (TNA) – Some foreign investors are hesitant about investing in Thailand and may decide to shift their resources to Thailand’s neighbours following the recent political mayhem in the country, according to the Department of Trade Negotiations.

Speaking at a seminar on “Who Benefits and Loses from Asian Economic Venues,” Nanthawal Sakuntanak, the department’s director-general, said the implementation of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) would do more good than harm to Thailand.

In the first three months of this year, Thailand was in surplus with ASEAN of more than US$7.1 billion. Many ASEAN members had imported more goods from Thailand.

However, what worried Ms Nanthawal now is the eroded confidence in service and investment sectors, not the trade issue.

She said Thailand had attempted to attract foreign investment into the country through the ASEAN market, but the recent political turmoil had made some foreign investors feel hesitant and shift their investment into other ASEAN members such as Vietnam or Malaysia.

Pornsilp Patcharintanakul, deputy secretary-general of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said to take advantage of Thailand’s trade liberalisation with ASEAN, the state sector must play an active role in management, particularly the supervision of some items of farm imports.

He said Thai industrial products, except frozen foods, still had a competitive edge in overseas markets.

The state and private sectors must coordinate their efforts to reduce logistics costs and enhance research and development to improve the standard of industrial products, he added. (TNA)