Foreign Investors Nervous

The government should step up its efforts to find a solution to the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate case within eight to nine months as it had earlier stated, according to the Bank of Thailand (BoT).

Suchart Sakkankosone, senior director of the BoT’s Domestic Economy Department, said the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO)’s comment it wanted the Thai government to more quickly address the Map Ta Phut problem must be heeded because the Japanese are
considered the most important and largest group of investors in Thailand at present.

He said the court’s order suspending¨investment projects in Map Ta Phut had shaken foreign investors in the industrial estate and other investment zones in Thailand.

“The comment and warning by JETRO reflect a clear perspective of foreign investors toward Thailand. So, the government should heed them and speed up addressing the problem as it had promised earlier. The investor feeling is an important matter and an incalculable risk,” he said.

Should the government manage to find a clear solution to the Map Ta Phut case quickly, or within eight to nine months as it had earlier stated, it would help boost investment conditions in Thailand, said Mr Suchart. But should it fail to do that, it would definitely worsen Thailand’s image in the eyes of foreign investors, he said.

Simultaneously, the government must give importance to looking after the businesses suspended by the court’s order because most had already sought loans from financial institutions.

A related story can be found on the Pattaya Times website: www.Pattaya-Times.com