Four businesses to be removed from FBA Annex III
To attract more foreign investors, the Commerce Ministry will remove four businesses - banking, bank branches, life insurance and non-life insurance - from the Annex III list of the Foreign Business Act (FBA) by the end of the year.
Pongpun Gearaviriyapun, director-general of the ministry’s Business Development Department, said those businesses were set to be liberalised soon as they are already strictly regulated by specific agencies and governed by a special set of laws and regulations.
The Cabinet has approved the proposal and the Council of State is considering it.
After the new regulations are ratified, foreign investors wanting a share larger than 50 per cent of the four businesses will not need to ask for the FBA Committee’s approval.
It is hoped the move reduces duplicate procedures and saves time for enterprises.
"In the near future, foreigners interested in doing those businesses will not have to obtain a permit from the Foreign Business Committee. They can seek operating licences from the Bank of Thailand and the Office of the Insurance Commission. However, related businesses such as leasing, in-house lending and consulting services will still require permits from the committee," Pongpun explained.
Other businesses related to banking and insurance and trading of agriculture products in the futures market listed in Annex III will also be considered for liberalisation in the future.
The department reported yesterday that it gave approval to 336 foreign companies to set up operations worth a total of Bt13 billion under the FBA in the first 10 months of this year. This was down by 5 per cent in volume and 78 per cent in initial investment capital, as many commercial banks and financial institutions invested a lot in Thailand during the same period last year.
This month alone, 27 companies were approved under the FBA, bringing in initial investment capital valued at Bt1.18 billion.
Pongpun said the November approvals would create at least 287 new jobs.
The department said permitting these companies to conduct service businesses in Thailand would encourage technology transfer and create jobs.
Most of the companies approved this month are subsidiaries and trading businesses, contracted firms to state-owned enterprises, retail firms and consultancies.
The investors mostly hail from Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, France, Australia and Switzerland.
