Japanese Firms Operating In Thailand Not Affected By Quake

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Local Japanese firms not affected by quake

By Nalin Viboonchart

The Nation

The monster earthquake in Japan will have no bearing on either Japanese firms operating here or their investment plans as Japanese investors take a long-term view, according to the Jetro External Trade Organisation and the Federation of Thai Industries.

"I'm a Japanese. I know how can we (Japanese) respond to the situation. So I'm confident that the quake will not affect the investment plans from Japan to Thailand," Munenori Yamada, Jetro's president, said yesterday.

The FTI met with Jetro and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce to ask whether Japan wants help from the Thai private sector and how the FTI can support that country.

Several Japanese automakers like Toyota, Hino, Daihatsu and Isuzu closed assembly plants in Japan for inspection after the quake. The shutdown would continue for three to five days. Toyota, the biggest automaker, still can't confirm the damage at three plants in the quake area but said output would be cut 40,000 units during the shutdown.

Payungsak Chartsuthiphol, FTI chairman, said Japanese companies had not lost their confidence to invest in Thailand. Their investments are planned for far out in the future. Besides, Japan has experienced many problems in the past, so it knows how to handle them and get through tough situations.

Jetro mentioned during the meeting that the work cut out for Japan was along three lines - assisting people, restoring communications and electricity, and helping the economy and industry to recover, he said. The FTI will discuss among its members ways to assist Japan.

The problem that concerned the FTI right now was the impact to the supply chain in many industries, particularly electronics, as the tsunami-hit area is the location of Japan's electronics industry. The FTI will monitor this situation closely. The impacts on other industries such as automobiles are unnoticeable at the moment.

"The supply chain in the electronics industry is our only concern. Besides this, I see no impact from the earthquake on Thailand. The Board of Investment (BoI) is keeping its target to grant privileges to investments worth Bt400 billion in Thailand this year, and Japan will also be the largest foreign investor in our country," he said.

Jetro would continue with its plan to hold the "Invest Japan Symposium" next Monday. The aim of the forum is to convince local investors to put up money for investment in Japan. And Jetro still believes that Japan remains an attractive destination for Thai investors.

Atchaka Sibunruang, BoI secretary-general, said the BoI was contacting Japanese firms with a presence here to ask if there was any damage to their parent company in Japan so that the BoI can assess the impact on industries in Thailand. The process is expected to take time.

The BoI is willing to cooperate with Japanese industries to support the production of electronics components, machinery and parts for the companies located in the tsunami-hit area. It is also preparing to invite the Japanese subsidiaries of those affected companies to discuss solutions to help them later. And it plans to set up a task force aimed at facilitating Japanese investors planning either to relocate their investment or to expand their business to Thailand.

"Our preliminarily assessment is that the impact from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan will slightly affect Thai industries, mostly Thai companies that import some parts from Japan," she said.

From 2005-2010, the BoI awarded incentives to 2006 Japanese projects worth Bt719.68 billion. The largest industry was automobiles with 804 projects worth Bt373.12 billion, accounting for 51 per cent of total investment during the period. The electric appliance and electronics industry had 373 projects valued at Bt162.80 billion.

The first two months of this year saw 82 projects promoted with a combined value of Bt24.5 billion.

-- The Nation 2011-03-15