Japanese investors eye EEC, says top Thai Envoy

TOKYO, June 12 (TNA) - Thai Ambassador to Japan Bansarn Bunnag says it is highly likely that private Japanese firms will invest in Thailand's newly-developed Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC). The Thai ambassador told TNA on June 11 that Japanese business operators view Thailand as a business hub in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and the Thai Kingdom has attracted over 70,000 Japanese business operators so far, most of whom have invested in eastern Thai industrial estates. The top Thai envoy, thus, projected that many private Japanese firms would invest in the Thai government-supported EEC. According to the top Thai envoy, there were up to 28,000 Japanese new projects applying for approved promotional privileges from the Board of Investment of Thailand (BOI) in 2016, a 100 per cent increase from 2015. The Thai ambassador notified, meanwhile, that a joint meeting of Japanese and Thai economic ministers will be soon held to particularly discuss issues on bilateral cooperation between Tokyo and Japan, representing close trade and investment relations between Japan and Thailand. (TNA)