Investors watching govt's flood performance

Setsuo Iuchi, president of the Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro), said investor confidence depended on many factors. One is the government’s responses to natural disasters. If it can handle this serious flood crisis and no more industrial zones are hit, foreign investors already in the country could be persuaded to keep their production bases in the Kingdom.
“We would like to ask the government to boost measures to save industries from floods,” Iuchi said.
What the government should do now is drain the flood waters as soon as possible and quickly revive the damaged infrastructure in the industrial estates, he said. It should also keep the public informed via quick and accurate updates.
“If the government can solve this problem quickly, Thailand will retain its strength as the manufacturing base in this region. We still hope Thailand can recover from the floods soon,” he said.
Jetro has not yet been able to assess the losses caused by the floods. Damages will ultimately depend on how long the floods last, Iuchi said.
Sampan Silapanad, president of the Electronics and Computer Employees Association, said that to boost confidence among foreign investors, the government must not only ensure a quick recovery from the current floods, but also take preventive measures in the long term.
“The faster the recovery, the smaller the effect on industries,” he said.
If about 200 electronics firms in Ayutthaya province were submerged, about 1,000 companies, including small and medium-sized enterprises in the electronics firms’ supply chains – or five times the number of directly hit companies – would be affected by supply shortages, Sampan said.
A source in the electronics industry said about 200 electronics companies based at three industrial estates – Saharat Nakorn, Rojana and Hi-Tech – had been hit by the floods.
Some Japanese manufacturers recently raised the issue of possible relief measures in talks with Industry Ministry officials. Measures discussed included tax waivers, which they had previously only read about in media reports, the source said.
Meanwhile, ON Semiconductor Corporation yesterday announced that its Sanyo Semiconductor division’s operations at Rojana Industrial Park in Ayutthaya had been suspended as a result of flooding. The firm was considering shifting production to other locations worldwide.
Sanyo Semiconductor currently operates wafer probe, assembly and test operations in Rojana Industrial Park.
Canon Inc is preparing to shift production of two plants in Ayutthaya after facilities were closed because of flooding. Canon may shift inkjet-printer production to another plant in Thailand or one in Vietnam, Richard Berger, a spokesman for the Japanese company, was quoted as saying yesterday by Bloomberg.