Amata signs MoU with UOB pact aimed at facilitating clients' expansion in Southeast Asia

Under the MoU, UOB’s wholesale banking customers and Amata’s customers will be able to tap into the strengths of both parties and have access to business referrals through each other’s network, they say.
Amata is Thailand’s largest listed conglomerate in the industrial-estate sector, with more than 5,000 hectares of industrial estate that host global clients from industries such as automotive, healthcare, and food and beverages. Amata has two estates in Chon Buri and Rayong provinces of Thailand, and another in Vietnam.
UOB has one of Southeast Asia’s largest banking networks, with 484 branches and offices across the region.
Under the auspices of the MoU, UOB and Amata will also set up a formal working group led by their senior executives to help companies identify and seize opportunities to expand into Southeast Asia through cross-border banking solutions including trade financing, loans and investments.

Cross-border investments
The MoU gives both parties opportunities to enhance regular exchanges of information on cross-border investments and trade.
UOB is the only bank in Southeast Asia to have established nine dedicated FDI (foreign direct investment) advisory units across the region to provide companies with assistance ranging from incorporation and access to UOB’s full suite of banking products to borderless financial services through the bank’s long-established regional network.
Peter Foo, UOB (Thai)’s chief executive officer, said Southeast Asia’s resilient and growing economy was opening up avenues for infrastructure investments and intra-regional trade.
“These regional trends and developments are what this MoU seeks to harness and convert into relevant business opportunities so that companies can realise their Southeast Asian business expansion ambitions,” he said.
In 2013, Southeast Asia attracted US$125 billion (Bt4.2 trillion) of FDI inflows or 9 per cent of the global total, almost double the 5 per cent it captured in 2003. Within the same period, FDI inflows to Thailand also rose 148 per cent to $13 billion in 2013, compared with $5 billion of investments in 2003. In 2013, Thailand received the third-largest share of FDI investments within Southeast Asia.
Viboon Kromadit, Amata’s director and chief marketing officer, said: “The MoU is an important part of Amata’s plan to support intra-regional trade.
With the growing affluence of the region, the demand for consumer goods has increased. Amata and UOB will support the growing and diverse financial needs of our clients in Amata’s industrial estates as Southeast Asia becomes a more important market for them.”
Since the launch of UOB (Thai)’s FDI advisory unit in 2013, it has helped 19 Thai companies in the trading, automotive, construction and manufacturing sectors to link up with business partners to expand their operations in Southeast Asia. Customers include Susco, a fuel retailer listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, and Thai Nakano, a Thai-Japanese joint venture in the construction business.