Flood-hit investors not heading overseas: BoI

Narucha Ruchupan, director of the BOI Unit for Industrial Linkage Development (BUILD), said the floods had hit 800 BOI-supported industrial operators in Ayutthaya, Pathum Thani and Nonthaburi provinces to the tune of Bt100 billion in overall damage.
Companies in the automotive, auto-parts, electronic parts and computer sectors account for most of the affected businesses.
The disaster resulted in a decline in the value of exports of computers and computer parts last year to Bt500 billion from Bt600 billion in 2010, while exports of vehicles and auto parts dropped to Bt510 billion from Bt560 billion, and machinery exports fell to Bt180 billion from Bt200 billion. The BOI has introduced a number of measures to mitigate the effect of the floods on affected companies. Narucha said 70 per cent of the flood-hit businesses under BOI support had resumed operations and, importantly, none had informed the agency of any plan to relocate to other countries, although some have moved operations to Chon Buri and Rayong provinces.
BUILD and UBM Asia (Thailand), part of leading trade-fair organiser UBM Asia, will co-host the industrial subcontracting exhibition SUBCON Thailand 2012 from May 17-19 at the Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Centre (Bitec). The fair, which is expected to see trading value of Bt6 billion against Bt5.4 billion last year, will serve to match large manufacturers in the automobile, electronics and machinery industries with small and medium-sized parts manufacturers to facilitate industrial linkage and transfer of manufacturing technology.
The BOI has also approached the Japan External Trade Organisation about supporting the fair to boost the confidence of Japanese investors, he added. The event’s name will be changed to SUBCON Asean from next year.