Kansai mission on the hunt
Businesspeople from Kansai, a region of the main Japanese island of Honshu, have expressed interest in investing in Asean, especially in energy, natural resources, and infrastructure development.
Industry Minister Prasert Boonchaisuk said after meeting with Shosuke Mori, chairman of the Kansai Business Federation, that the organisation had brought businesspeople to Thailand for three days ending today to look for business opportunities. Before arriving in Thailand, they visited Indonesia and Singapore.
Prasert said the federation had asked about the progress of the development of Dawei industrial zone in Myanmar. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Bangkok last month to discuss that project with the Thai government.
Prasert said his ministry explained to the Kansai group that the cooperation between the Thai and Myanmar governments on the Dawei project was at an early stage but was making significant progress. The project is now being planned for the first-phase development, including the deep-sea port, industrial estate, and power plant.
He said the ministry also informed the Japanese federation that the Thai government planned to develop local infrastructure, in a programme worth about Bt2 trillion, which will include high-speed rail, mass urban transit, and highways connecting Thailand and neighbouring countries along the east-west and north-south economic corridors. The investment project is aimed at raising this country’s development to another level as transport and logistics costs are significantly reduced.
Barrages
With its water-management project, worth a total of Bt350 billion, the government is undergoing the procurement process for small-scale projects at river basins throughout the Kingdom, as well as the construction of barrages at major industrial estates that were hit by the massive floods in 2011. The Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand is working to protect six estates.
A source at the Industry Ministry said the Kansai Business Federation had brought 23 leading businesspeople from such organisations as the Bank of Tokyo, Iwatani (a leading manufacturer for energy cells and security equipment for gas and electricity), and Bando, a manufacturer of automotive and computer equipment.
