Thai PM invites SKorean businesses to invest in Thailand

SEOUL, March 26 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has invited more South Korean investors to do businesses in Thailand, recommending electronic, electrical, automobile, equipment and alternative energy industries, as well as processed agricultural production, research, development and creative businesses. In her speech to Thai and South Korean business persons during a luncheon at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul, after visiting Ewha Woman’s University Monday morning, Yingluck said that Thailand and South Korea have developed bilateral ties in their economic and public affairs over the past decade, and that over 500 South Korean firms do business in Thailand with the value of two-way trade reaching as much as 15.1 billion won last year, about 12 per cent increase from 2010 when bilateral investment even soared by 51 per cent. Yingluck insisted that her government has promoted bilateral trade, investment and tourism with South Korea and has supported international investors by planning to cut corporate income tax to 23 per cent this year and to 20 per cent next year, from 30 per cent currently. Besides, the Thai government will be investing 72 billion US dollars in mega infrastructure projects over the next five years, including a high-speed railway from Bangkok to Chiang Mai Province in the Thai North and a deep-sea port in Myanmar's Dawei City. According to the Thai premier, the new mega projects will promote Thailand to become a business hub in the region in the foreseeable future, expressing her hope that for Thailand and South Korea, bilateral partnership will also further enhanced. Last year, over one million South Korean travellers also visited Thailand and 310,000 Thai people traveled to South Korea. On the same occasion, Premier Yingluck acknowledged that her government has now spent some 350 billion baht in flood prevention projects and will hold more water at dams in the upcoming rainy season to protect local industrial estates located downstream from floods. The Puea Thai premier assured that Thailand's economic fundamentals remain strong, despite a massive flooding late last year and she believes the Thai economy should grow by 5.5-6.5 per cent this year. Thai visiting Thai prime minister also met representatives of South Korean firms which are interested in expanding their investment in Thailand, including LG Electronics, Samsung and Union Steel.(TNA)