Joint Thailand-Japan committee highlights need for cooperation

The meeting also covered how to foster trade and investment between Thailand and Japan.
It was co-hosted by the Thailand’s Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking and the Japanese business federation, Keidanren.
Supant Mongkolsuthree, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries, said the value of trade between the two countries last year exceeded US$57.531 billion (Bt1.875 trillion), of which $21.820 billion was the value of Thailand’s exports to Japan and $35.710 billion the value of Thai imports from Japan.
Japan last year contributed 54 per cent of the total foreign investment in Thailand, with 672 projects approved worth more than Bt293.334 billion.
Supant denied that many Japanese companies were moving out of Thailand to other countries, as Japanese investors were still confident in Thailand.
Boontuck Wangcharoen, chairman of the Thai Bankers’ Association, who joined the meeting, said Japan also wanted to see Thailand investing more in Japan. He added that Japanese investors had raised concerns about labour shortages and how Thailand was addressing this problem.
MR Pridiyathorn Devakula, deputy prime minister for economic affairs, said the government was pushing for a memorandum of understanding with Japan for collaboration on a rail route linking the east and west of Thailand, or from the Cambodian border to Chachoengsao, to Bangkok, and on to the Myanmar border.
Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha will discuss this possible collaboration with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on his visit of Japan on February 8 and 9.
Pridiyathorn added that Thailand and Myanmar had agreed to invite Japan to become the third partner to develop the Dawei special economic zone.
He said there were business opportunities in Thailand for Japanese investors in the new list of industries the Board of Investment will promote, ranging from high-tech industries to eco-friendly industries and innovation-based services.
In December, the government approved a new package to attract more companies to establish their international headquarters and international trading companies in Thailand.
Pridiyathorn said Thailand was telling Japan that it has shifted the focus as it could no longer compete with emerging markets in some product sectors because of Thailand’s relatively high labour costs. Therefore, the country was moving towards high-tech and eco-friendly products.
He added that if this country could adjust its investment policy to focus on high-value products, Japan would see that Thailand could fulfil its value chain.