Governor of the Bank of Thailand Prasarn Trairatvorakul believes that Thailand will continue to receive the attention of foreign investors because of its sound fundamentals and attractive prospects.
In his address on the topic “Connecting Thailand to the New Investment Frontiers” on 28 August 2013, Mr. Prasarn pointed out that Thailand has a geographical location advantage that will help it to become an investment hub for the ASEAN Economic Community, particularly the new frontier markets.
For Thailand to enjoy the benefits from the new investment frontiers, it must continue the pursuit of sound macroeconomic and financial policies. It also requires improvement on the supply side, such as investment in infrastructure, education, and innovation, to raise the competitiveness of the country. Deeper collaboration between the public and the private sectors is also needed to position Thailand as a regional anchor or hub.
In order to become a magnet for the region, Mr. Prasarn said that Thailand needs to maintain its ranking in the ease of doing business in such areas of rules of law, governance, and strong regulatory frameworks. The Thai capital market has also worked hard to promote its role as the funding center for new frontier markets.
He explained that this is a good occasion for foreign participants to share in the opportunity and prosperity of the region. Foreign investors can participate as co-financing and co-investment partners, through public-private partnerships and joint ventures, or by investing in infrastructure bonds or primary shares. In the area of banking and finance, the country will shortly welcome new foreign participants, both as strategic partners to established Thai banks and as new entrants in the form of subsidiaries.
In his view, Thai businesses can no longer wait for the transfer of knowledge and technology through foreign direct investment. They need to venture abroad to secure the resources, know-how, franchise value, and distribution channels.
Recognizing this, the Bank of Thailand has gradually relaxed capital flow regulations, initially on outward direct investment and more recently on portfolio investments for Accredited Investors. It plans to continue to broaden the scope of investments with freer mobility for Thai residents in investing overseas.
The Bank of Thailand is also working closely with the Ministry of Finance and other agencies on appropriate tax incentives to facilitate the setting up of a treasury center to enable large companies to conduct in-house financial transactions more efficiently and with lower transaction costs.
With the opening up of the new investment frontiers, Mr. Prasarn said, this is probably the most exciting times for Thai businesses to invest abroad to secure resources, both raw material and know-how, and to expand the customer base, acquire distribution channels, and broaden markets.
source: http://thailand.prd.go.th/view_news.php?id=6910&a=2