BoI secures Bt9 billion of investment from Hong Kong
Speaking on Friday (November 29) at the “Thailand Plus Opportunities for Hong Kong Investors” seminar held at Shangri-La Hotel in Bangkok to an audience of 50 business people and investors from Hong Kong, Duangjai Asawachintachit, secretary-general of the Board of Investment (BoI), noted that over the past nine months, Hong Kong companies have filed applications for investment privileges with BoI with an accumulated project value of around Bt9 billion.
“Thailand is in a strategic location in the heart of CLMVT (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand) with modern infrastructure being developed in Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) that can accommodate the needs of Hong Kong companies looking to expand its production bases in the Asean region,” she said.
“Moreover, the Hong Kong Software Industry Association has shown a huge interest in investing in Thailand in digital technology and software industries from start-ups and SMEs to multinational corporations,” she added. “Thailand has an ecosystem that is suitable for digital industries as well as investment promotion measures that facilitate start-ups to penetrate new markets.”
Duangjai added that Hong Kong’s investment in Thailand in the past five years has been increasing considerably. “In 2015 we only received 26 applications from Hong Kong companies with investment value of Bt3.7 billion, then in 2018 we got 42 applications valued at Bt18 billion,” she said. “As of September this year, 44 Hong Kong companies have filed for investment privileges with an accumulated project value at Bt8.937 billion, mostly in electronics, logistics, digital and light industries.”
The seminar was jointly organized by the Thai government and Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) as a sideline to this week’s bilateral trade talks.
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