Thai investors look to Myanmar
July 26 - August 1, 2010
INVESTORS from many Thai sectors are looking to Myanmar, with its low operating costs, abundant natural resources and large market, according to the Thai-Myanmar Business Council.
Representatives of Burma’s private sector visited the council in recent weeks to lobby Thai industries to establish manufacturing plants in the country, whose official name is Myanmar, said Thai-Myanmar Business Council Santi Vilassakdanont. Promising sectors in Myanmar include food processing, agriculture-related industries, consumer products and garments, he said.
Myanmar will hold a general election at the end of this year. It is expected that the new Myanmar government will establish investment incentives aimed at foreign businesses.
“Myanmar has been opening its country to foreign investment since member nations agreed to implement the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015. ASEAN will become a single market under this agreement, and Myanmar does not want to be left behind. We’re cooperating closely with the private sector in Myanmar,” Santi said.
Moreover, Myanmar authorities want to create jobs. At present, many Myanmar labourers work in Thai manufacturing plants on the countries’ border. It makes sense for the Myanmar to encourage these people to work in their home country, he said.
The Thai-Myanmar Business Council plans to take a delegation, including about 20 Thai businesspeople, to Myanmar next month, Santi said. During the visit, the two countries will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) securing the supply of certain Myanmar agricultural products to the Thai food-processing industry, as well as garment exports from Thailand to Myanmar.
Thai manufacturers will also be given opportunities to meet and establish relationships with Myanmar businesspeople.
Santi said he had also received expressions of interest from representatives of firms in such heavy-industry sectors such as steel and cement, as well as from the energy industry, about investing in Myanmar.
Other countries, including China and Singapore, are also looking for investment opportunities in Myanmar. Santi said Thailand needs to take advantage of its geographical proximity to Myanmar and its historical ties with the country’s people.
“Thai industries should pay more attention to investing in Myanmar as the operating costs in that country, such as labour and land costs, are lower than in Thailand. Besides, the investment regulations in Myanmar are less stringent than in our country right now. We don’t know yet when the Southern Seaboard project will be ready for new investment,” he said.
The Thai-Myanmar Business Council was set up in February this year as collaboration between the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI), the Thai Chamber of Commerce and the Thai Bankers Association. Santi, who is a former chairman of the FTI, is the first chairman of the council.
– The Nation
