Thailand's EEC attractive to Chinese, Japanese investors

BANGKOK, May 31 (TNA) - The Ministry of Industry reports that China and Japan have expressed their interest in expanding their investment projects into the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) in the Thai East. Speaking at a business seminar on "China–Japan Cooperation on the Eastern Economic Corridor of Thailand", jointly organized by the Eastern Economic Corridor Office of Thailand (EECO) and the Chinese and the Japanese Embassies to Thailand in Bangkok on Thursday, Thai Industry Minister Uttama Savanayana announced that China and Japan have shown their interest in jointly investing in research and development (R&D) and human resource (HR) development projects in Thailand, especially in the EEC. Uttama stated that the joint move followed the signing of a memorandam of understanding (MOU) on the private sector's economic cooperation in third countries between China and Japan in Tokyo on May 9, 2018, under which a newly-established Chinese, Japanese panel, tasked with promoting economic activities of the private sector of both sides based on a high-level negotiation framework, will help explore market and industrial investment opportunities for the Chinese and the Japanese private sector. Uttama said Chinese investors who are interested in investing in innovative industrial projects under the Thailand 4.0 Policy will visit the Thai Kingdom as a team in the near future to explore their business opportunities themselves. Besides, Japanese investors are interested in expanding their investment in supply chains in Thailand, following the recent signing of a cooperation agreement between the Thai Ministry of Industry and the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). The minister, thus, projected that international investment projects in Thailand's EEC, expected to also include those from South Korea and Europe, should reach about 43 billion US dollars over the next five years. Meanwhile, EECO Secretary-General Kanit Sangsubhan, revealed that his office will participate in the joint panel of China and Japan to work out joint Chinese, Japanese investment plans in the EEC within the next couple of months. The EECO chief also declared Thailand's readiness to cooperate with all other countries whose investors are interested in expanding their investment plans in the EEC and even other areas in the Thai economy, where the government's international bidding system based on the public–private partnership (PPP) is upheld. (TNA)