BANGKOK, 2 May 2012 – The BOI is set to open an investment promotion office in Mumbai, India, to attract Indian investment to Thailand and vice versa. Meanwhile, the South Asian country has expressed interest to use Thailand as an access route into the ASEAN market.
The Board of Investment of Thailand (BOI) has revealed that more Indian investors are keen to invest in Thailand. Their scope of interest has now expanded from textile and petrochemical into the chemical and machinery industries as well. Although the current investment value from India is still quite low, a positive expansion can be expected.
With aims to boost Indian investment in Thailand as well as to encourage Thai entrepreneurs to invest in India, the BOI is set to launch an investment promotion office in Mumbai, India, in July. Mumbai has been picked for its strategic location connecting the whole Indian country and for its status as an industrial city with potential for international business.
Additionally, India has expressed its intention to use Thailand and Myanmar as production bases and the gateway into the ASEAN market. Targeting to invest in petrochemical and energy in Myanmar’s Dawei, India has urged Thailand to accelerate its development of the logistic system in Dawei for a better connection between Dawei Port and the Phu Nam Ron Industrial Estate in Kanchanaburi province, given that the transportation route through Dawei proves to be shorter and more convenient than that running from India to ASEAN via the Strait of Malacca.
During the first quarter of 2012, four Indian projects, worth 766 million baht, have requested for investment promotion from the BOI. In comparison with the previous year, the number of investment projects is slightly lower; however, the investment value has shot up by approximately 500 million baht. In 2011, 13 projects, worth 3.18 billion baht, filed their requests for investment promotion.
