Invest HK plans Bangkok office to facilitate investment from China firms

Simon Galpin, director-general of the investment promotion agency, said Invest HK’s office in the capital would be operational by about April this year as part of its cooperation agreement with the BoI.
The main objective is to facilitate state-owned companies in mainland China to undertake more investment projects in Thailand, which is a major trading partner of China.
Chinese state enterprises with plenty of investment funds are keen to invest abroad, while Thailand other Asean countries are among their destination targets following the recent implementation of the Asean Economic Community.
China currently takes about 10 per cent of Thailand’s exports, but its foreign direct investment in the Kingdom still lags behind that of Japan and a number of other countries.
Galpin said Invest HK could help boost outbound investment projects by Chinese companies, especially among state enterprises on the mainland which are encouraged to set up subsidiaries in Hong Kong so that they have more flexibility and convenience when it comes to investing overseas.
Set up in 2000, Invest HK’s original purpose was to promote Hong Kong as Asia’s leading international business and financial centre.
Last year, it assisted more than 3,700 companies to invest in the Special Administrative Region, creating more than 40,000 jobs and attracting over HK$99 billion (Bt453 billion) worth of investment.
In 2014, Hong Kong was ranked the world’s second most attractive destination for foreign direct investment, after mainland China.
The investment agency’s chief described Hong Kong as primarily positioned as a gateway for foreign investors to tap the huge Chinese market, due to its ease of doing business, strong banking and financial system, reliable legal system, and low income-tax rates, which are currently 15 per cent for salaries and 16.5 per cent for company profits.
Due to a slowdown of the Chinese export engine in the past several years, many Chinese firms have also started to explore investment opportunities overseas in order to diversify their business portfolios, he said.
One of Beijing’s most ambitious overseas development programmes is the “Belt and Road” initiative, aimed at promoting infrastructure investment projects in several Asian countries.
China also led the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, in which Thailand and dozens of other countries – including the United Kingdom, Germany and France – are shareholders.
In Thailand, Chinese and Thai officials are finalising an agreement to invest in the medium-speed railway project worth Bt550 billion covering more than 800 kilometres from Bangkok to Map Ta Phut in Rayong and the northeastern province of Nong Khai.
The railway will be connected with another 600km-plus section in Laos and southern China to link up the county with several nations in the Asean region.