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Foreign Firm: Politics and Map Ta Phut Affect Investment Climate

A giant industrial conglomerate will continue its plan to expand their business in Thailand, despite the political uncertainty and unresolved Map Ta Phut impasse. It urges all Thai people to keep the interests of the country at heart.

Harald Link, Chief Executive of B.Grimm Group, the giant industrial conglomerate focused on energy, cooling, healthcare, lifestyle, transportation, and real estate, said Thailand has been a desirable investment location for many decades, but the investment climate has recently been depressed by several internal factors, especially the Map Ta Phut controversy.

He urged the Thai government to act more quickly to solve the legal issues at Map Ta Phut in a bid to win back foreign investors.

Besides the Map Ta Phut impasse, Link said political instability in Thailand is clearly a cause for concern for investors.

He encouraged the Thai people to be more generous and thoughtful about public interest, because if any further violence breaks out, investor confidence will be extremely undermined.

The B.Grimm Group CEO noted that as the longest established German firm in Thailand, B.Grimm has for 132 years provided Thai society with world-class technology.

Despite the various internal problems over the past year, the company was successful in meeting its profit target of 16 billion baht.

He added that 7 percent growth is expected this year, and most of the profit is expected to come from four power plants. Three of those are in Thailand, while one is in Vietnam.

Power from the three power plants in Thailand is distributed to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand and industrial plants.

He said the group has a plan to construct four other power plants in Amata Nakorn Industrial Estate in Chon Buri, and has signed a five-billion-baht long-term loan agreement with Bangkok Bank and Kasikorn Bank. The construction plan is expected to begin in 2012.

-- Tan Network 2010-08-05