Japan-Thai attraction good for economy
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THE number of Japanese eateries in Thailand has risen sharply over the past few years, thanks mostly to the fact that many Thais now visit Japan and have developed a taste for the cuisine, according to the Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro) offic e
“Japanese restaurants will continue being an attraction for both Japanese and Thai investors. Also, not just large enterprises, but also small to medium-sized companies have started investing overseas in response to the Japanese government’s policy to encourage SMEs to go international,” Jetro Bangkok president Masayasu Hosumi said in an interview last week.
As of June last year, the number of Japanese restaurants in Thailand had risen by 18 per cent to 2,126 from 1,806 as of April 2013 and 1,676 as of June 2012.
Of the 2,126 Japanese eateries, 1,415 are located in Bangkok and the remaining 711 in other provinces.
Hosumi said the boom in Japanese restaurants could also be put down to the fact that more Thais are visiting Japan after it waived visa requirements for holders of Thai passports. The depreciation of the yen has also attracted more Thai travellers over the past year.
Last year, as many as 657,600 Thais visited Japan, compared to 453,642 in 2013 and 260,640 in 2012, when the visa-exemption had yet to be put in place.
Thais have become the biggest travellers in Japan among Asean citizens and the fifth largest in Asia after Taiwan, South Korea, China and Hong Kong.
With Abenomics in place to promote economic growth, the Japanese government is also focusing on boosting the country’s tourism sector and globalisation.
Other than Thailand, Japan is also considering relaxing visa requirements for other countries, especially those in the Asean region. It is also planning to increase the number of international flights in Tokyo’s Haneda Airport by 30,000.
Though the increase in consumption tax hit demand, thus affecting growth, Japan’s gross domestic product is still expected to grow at a faster pace. In reaction to the negative growth, the consumption tax hike to 10 per cent has been postponed to April 2017, after it was initially hiked to 8 per cent in April last year.
For this fiscal year – from April to March 2016 – Japan projects its economy to grow by 1.5 per cent from a 0.5 per cent in the last fiscal year.
