THAILAND is taking steps to attract more foreign investment to accelerate economic growth while preparing to adjust its policies to cope with potential changes to world trade under a Trump presidency, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said.
The South-east Asian nation wants to position itself as a destination of choice for investments in data centres and semiconductors, Paetongtarn said, adding it has made some progress in this regard by securing commitments from companies such Alphabet’s Google and Microsoft.
Thailand’s US$500 billion economy is in a much better shape today than when her Pheu Thai-led coalition took power a year ago, the prime minister said. Seeking to assure the gathering of Thai and foreign business leaders, Paetongtarn said the period of political uncertainty was over and that policy continuity is a priority for her administration.
She came to power in September after her predecessor Srettha Thavisin was ousted in a court ruling that unleashed political turmoil.
“If politics is very stable, everything is going to be more stable,” Paetongtarn said. “People are going to trust more that Thailand isn’t going to change too much. They’ll have more confidence to invest.”
The return of a civilian government after a near decade-long military backed rule has also led to a surge in investment pledges by private companies. But a raft of legal petitions against Paetongtarn and Pheu Thai Party have raised concerns about fresh political instability with the nation’s conservative royalist establishment seeking to reassert its grip on power.
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Thailand’s Board of Investment has reported a 42 per cent jump in the value of investment proposals to 723 billion baht (S$28 billion) in the first nine months of this year, the highest level since 2015. Chip-designing firm Nvidia is set to unveil Thai investment plans in December, while companies such as Seagate Technology Holdings and Western Digital are looking to ramp up investment in local operations, according to officials.
“We need to make sure we’re ready for investments especially data centres and semiconductors,” Paetongtarn said, adding Thailand needs “to announce to the world we’re ready for future investments.”
The premier said her government is prepared to adjust policies to support its export sector if it gets hit by President-elect Donald Trump’s trade policies. Her assurance came a day after a study showed Thailand’s economy could potentially lose about 160.5 billion baht, shaving off about 90 basis points from its projected 3 per cent gross domestic product growth next year.
The country can beat the growth target for next year as the government lifts public investments and if it can ensure political stability, she told a separate seminar earlier on Thursday (Nov 21). She vowed to complete her government’s remaining three years tenure and fresh stimulus measures early in December.
The government is laying the foundation for the country to escape the middle income trap in five years, the premier said. BLOOMBERG
