BANGKOK, 25 July 2011– Foreign investors are still interested in making investment in Thailand as seen from an increase in land usage request at the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (I-EA-T) despite the incoming government’s policy to increase daily minimum wage to 300 baht.
I-EA-T Governor Monta Pranootnorapal elaborated that foreign investors are interested in establishing their factories in I-EA-T industrial estates, especially those from Japan who are looking for new production bases after their businesses were devastated in the 11 March earthquake and tsunami.
The governor reported that the number of applications to use land in the I-EA-T now rose by 20% compared with the normal situation.
Ms Monta explained that Thailand remains an attractive investment destination for foreign investors. She added that the policy of the new government to increase minimum wage to 300 baht a day should not affect the investment climate as the rate is not different much from other rivals.
The governor noted that Thailand still has many other competitive advantages including location and skilled labour. Most importantly, she said there is no signal that foreign businesses will shift their production bases to a third country.
Ms Monta said the I-EA-T nonetheless will speedily survey possible impact of the minimum wage policy among about 200,000 entrepreneurs whose factories are inside the I-EA-T before presenting the result to the Ministry of Industry and forwarding it to the new government for consideration.
