Foreign investors parade into Thailand, looking for potential investments, says Deputy PM Somkid

[snoop1130]

Foreign investors parade into Thailand, looking for potential investments, says Deputy PM Somkid

By The Nation

 

Somkid Jatusripitak

 

Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak called a meeting with top officials of the Finance Ministry and state enterprises under its management, informing them that foreign investors have continuously made enquiries about investment in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), including the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), Microsoft and Amazon, the British-Asean Business Council and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). The CCPIT is keen on paving the way.

 

Economy related organisations need to facilitate expansion of investment amid the ongoing global economic slowdown as foreigners are still interested in investing in Thailand, indicating the country's high growth potential, he said. 

 

Foreign investors are confident of the Thai economy due to infrastructure development and are not worried about risk factors despite the World Economic Forum’s warning, Somkid said. 

 

The deputy minister has instructed the Ministry of Finance to evaluate all aspects of the Thai economy in preparation for new measures and acknowledged that domestic consumption showed improvement in October, mainly driven by ‘Eat, Shop, Spend’ campaign.

 

However, exports remain sluggish as the purchasing power of buyers declines, resulting in falling revenue. As a remedy, the government has ordered higher tax collection by the Revenue, Customs, and Excise department on condition that it would not affect domestic consumption.

 

He added that the Prime Minister's proposal for Social Security funds to be used as investment loans was meant to see how these funds should be utilised. It will not affect the status or members of the National Health Security Office (NHSO).

 

"It is a sensitive issue,” he said, He wanted the media to be careful and not exaggerate the economic situation in Thailand since it might affect the confidence of foreign investors.

 

“Regarding information from the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report for doing business around the world in 2018, it was derived from a survey of private sectors, seeking advantages for investment in the next 10 years. They were told to evaluate 30 risk factors, which did not represent the current situation.”

 

Finance Minister Uttama Savanayana stated that the ministry will look after the economy as a whole and to seek appropriate measures before the 2019 budget allocation begins in February.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30378380

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2019-11-15

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[RotBenz8888]

8 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

"It is a sensitive issue,” he said, He wanted the media to be careful and not exaggerate the economic situation in Thailand since it might affect the confidence of foreign investors.

In other words, dont tell the truth.

[ICELANDMAN]

Nice dream you have make this night Finance Minister Uttama Savanayana, As a remedy, the government has ordered higher tax collection by the Revenue, Customs, and Excise department on condition that it would not affect domestic consumption.

[RotBenz8888]

Sorry, na.

[zydeco]

Is this guy related to Larry Kudlow?

[Jessi]

Somkid you could not lie straight in bed.????

[cornishcarlos]

12 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

indicating the country's high growth potential,

 

It has potential, which will not be realised until the military realise they work for the government and the government realises they work for the people who vote them into office !!! 

In other words nothing will change ????

[saengd]

12 hours ago, RotBenz8888 said:

In other words, dont tell the truth.

I read that as though he wants the opposite, he wants the media to tell the truth and not to lie.

[nev]

Not the best time to invest here from overseas, Maybe some one can enlighten me Why any investor would invest here with the low exchange rate for foreign currencies?.

 

[Denim]

13 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Foreign investors parade into Thailand

 

Then reality rains on the parade and they parade out again and look elsewhere.

[nobodysfriend]

14 minutes ago, nev said:

Not the best time to invest here from overseas, Maybe some one can enlighten me Why any investor would invest here with the low exchange rate for foreign currencies?.

 

They see potential growth here = money making possibilities .

[Chazar]

13 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

parade

Gosh, Im going to try some of this "parading" myself................expect they are having to fight off these foreign invaders with a <deleted>ty  stick

[saengd]

22 minutes ago, nev said:

Not the best time to invest here from overseas, Maybe some one can enlighten me Why any investor would invest here with the low exchange rate for foreign currencies?.

 

Foreign investors see THB as a strong currency, in particular government bonds are considered to be a very safe bet, that's where most of the foreign hot money is headed and BOT has had to cancel bond auctions because of intense overseas interest. The reason it's all seen as being a safe bet is the because of the underlying economic factors: low external debt, high foreign currency reserves, a recurring trade surplus and current account balance, low unemployment and low social security overheads. Investors are not here in Thailand because of the exchange rate! And by investor I refer to large brokerage houses, investment funds, multi-nationals rather than retirees looking to park a million or two somewhere safe.

[tjo o tjim]

43 minutes ago, nev said:

Not the best time to invest here from overseas, Maybe some one can enlighten me Why any investor would invest here with the low exchange rate for foreign currencies?.

If you are an investor and interested in Thailand, you are trying to reduce systemic risk.  That is likely a Chinese (or Indian) investor wanting to have additional overseas assets and cash flow beyond their government’s hands, or any other party just wanting to launder money.  If 100% of your production is in China, getting ~20% out of the country makes sense when balancing risks.  Same for India— the capital controls and currency issues Modi’s government created makes having overseas production or investment a stabilizing factor.

 

For most other countries, the military government and trends over the past 5 years would make Thailand a higher risk investment.

[saengd]

Investors have never cared too much about political risk in Thailand, business as usual involves the potential for a coup which is seen as no big deal, they have had twenty two in the past hundred years! Even when soldiers were tanks were on the streets and snipers were killing people on Silom, the background economy kept ticking over and tourists kept flying to the beaches.

[klauskunkel]

Foreign investors parade into Thailand? Make them prostrate themselves. 

[RobbyXNorway]

Somkid'ing again...

[finnishmen]

i hope ALL foreigns stop and end ALL busines and investication in thailand, then thai idiot minster can see how important all foreigns money have thailand economy and many million thai workers, foreigns must be stop ewerythink busines and start only again then vise idiot system have changed to normal human visa system whitout stupid idiot money fee etc visa paper work, same work permit need change lot lot easy and better normal human law ,not idiot thai law.

[Srikcir]

16 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

He added that the Prime Minister's proposal for Social Security funds to be used as investment loans was meant to see how these funds should be utilised.

What funds?

Sustainable policy needed for social security fund, says minister https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30378056?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=internal_referral

• In response to rumour that the social security fund would dry up within fifteen years, Labour Minister Chatumongol Sonakul said the fund remained steady citing an actuarial report complied by the Social Security Office (SSO) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in 2015.
• However, the minister admitted that future factors, including the growing number of elderly citizens, decreasing number of labourers in the social security’s system and improved benefits, may affect the status of the social security fund in the future.

[hotchilli]

17 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

He added that the Prime Minister's proposal for Social Security funds to be used as investment loans was meant to see how these funds should be utilised. It will not affect the status or members of the National Health Security Office (NHSO).

 

"It is a sensitive issue,” he said, He wanted the media to be careful and not exaggerate the economic situation in Thailand since it might affect the confidence of foreign investors.

It's a bit like "pawing the family silver" but saying I don't really need to do this I'm not skint!

[Misterwhisper]

Now, THAT explains why I was stuck in the immigration cue at Suvarnabhumi for almost two hours yesterday. I was in a line with hundreds of INVESTORS flocking to Thailand!

 

Well, almost all of them looked like low-end Chinese and Indian tourists. But hey, never judge a book by its cover. They were all INVESTORS!

[mduras01]

All things considered, I’d rather keep money invested in Thailand than in the US. Their debt to GDP is very well managed; coups and such have had little effect on the currency. the US debt by comparison is balls to the walls. I started selling out of the market.

[JimGant]

5 hours ago, tjo o tjim said:

For most other countries, the military government and trends over the past 5 years would make Thailand a higher risk investment.

Actually, the military pedigree of the current gov't suggests (and has demonstrated) stability -- a prime requirement for investors in any country, but especially one with a history of blood in the streets. So, investors can look at the past five years, also look at those fundamentals mentioned in post #13; and compare with the previous five-year chunks of rule in Thailand. Looks pretty good -- except to civil rights nerds, with no investment horsepower anyway. Plus, most of the current gov't's only uniform wardrobe consists of those ice cream vendor suits, not military uniforms. Smart, knowledgeable civilians are in place.

 

Yeah, having a four-star general at the top could be a lot worse (and has been). Looking at history, America's best 8 years economically, and with *NO* war involvement, were under Eisenhower. My kind of military gov't. Maybe Prayut should get a fifth star... (joke, joke -- before you coup birds start chattering).

[Sonhia]

Thai tend to over state plus over exaggerate, with plenty of hot air, about the truth. Propaganda is rife.

Consider past events, why invest in Thailand? Beyond me. 

 

Anyone or company prepared to invest money in Thailand must be prepared to loose every penny or almost everything. 

 

[Cake Monster]

Sure, the Investors will be looking at possible Investment into the EEC.

However, they will also be looking at placing their money into other other Investment opportunities in other countries.

When all the evaluations on the Investments have taken place, Thailand does not seem to be either competitive, or business friendly compared to other more open Nations.

Its the reason all the Investors are not placing their money on Thailand, or its future.

[hansnl]

11 hours ago, cornishcarlos said:

 

It has potential, which will not be realised until the military realise they work for the government and the government realises they work for the people who vote them into office !!! 

In other words nothing will change ????

A good one, the government works for the people.

Like in your own country?

[tjo o tjim]

6 hours ago, mduras01 said:

All things considered, I’d rather keep money invested in Thailand than in the US. Their debt to GDP is very well managed; coups and such have had little effect on the currency. the US debt by comparison is balls to the walls. I started selling out of the market.

Well, that must have turned out well for you.  My stock portfolio is up nearly 20% in the past month and 170% over the past 3 years.  Sure, I am de-risking, but to think that Thailand is a better investment is crazy talk.  
 

For Thailand to really grow economically they need to take education seriously. Without that, you aren’t going to lure the banks and other businesses that want to leave Hong Kong, or create new (meaningful) opportunities. 
 

The link to government is that they have shown a strong desire to protect the elites and live in the present. Strategic investment is grossly lacking. What is happening now is primarily concentration of wealth (especially in Greater Bangkok), and that has limits especially when you add droughts, flooding and other risk factors to the primary growth engine. 
 

As for currency stability through coups, that was with a different king behind the scenes, and a plan to go back to democracy. We aren’t there now. Short-term (12-24 months) we might see 28 THB/USD, but that will only add to medium term problems. 

[jerojero]

Doubt anyone paraded anywhere near Thailand with Bhat soaring. Foreign investment increases when domestic currency is trending down or reasonably low. Why pay would investors pay significantly more in finance charges foreign exchange currently? 

[moonseeker]

I often ask myself, do these big companies even partially understand the complex culture and factors they will be dealing with from the first moment of their investment decision? Or are all the points that are often mentioned and discussed on TV irrelevant for investors? MS>

[Redline]

On 11/15/2019 at 6:28 PM, snoop1130 said:

He wanted the media to be careful and not exaggerate the economic situation in Thailand since it might affect the confidence of foreign investors.

Like telling the truth ????