Thai investors urged to target Philippines, Myanmar

The Philippines and Myanmar are the new economic stars in Asean, as strong growth in the former and a revolutionary transformation in terms of transparency and political development in the latter draw in foreign investors, a seminar has been told.

At yesterday's seminar on "Talks with the Thai Trade Ambassador: Direction for SMEs to Penetrate the Asean Market", panellists advised enterprises to concentrate more on the Philippine and Myanmar markets, both which have been off investors' radar screens for many years.

Thanavath Phonvichai, director of the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce's Economic and Business Forecasting Centre, said many new investors eyed the Philippines because of projected strong growth there in the next several years. "The Philippine government's clear policy to get rid of corruption has improved transparency in the country. With its large population of more than 100 million, second only to Indonesia [in the region], the Philippines is one of the most interesting markets that Thai exporters should not ignore," Thanavath said.

He said investment opportunities in the Philippines were expected to continue to grow.

Myanmar is the most interesting market among neighbouring countries because of the influx of foreign direct investment since Nay Pyi Taw began taking steps towards democracy, Thanavath said.

From now on, investment to Asean will mostly likely be in the manufacturing and service industries, as well as to support long-term development of the agricultural sector and higher demand.

According to the International Monetary Fund, Asean countries will see average economic growth of 5.7 per cent in 2013-2018.

The Philippines' gross domestic product is forecast to grow by an average of 5.5 per cent in the next five years, up from 5.2 per cent this year. Myanmar's economic growth will likely expand from 6.1 per cent this year to an average of 6.9 per cent in the next five years.

Rachakorns Saksri, Thai trade counsellor in the Philippines, said the country's economy could sustain GDP growth of about 6 per cent a year.

The Philippines has seen stronger economic growth than other countries in the region because it relies less on exports. Its economy relies largely on the service sector, which contributes about 54 per cent of GDP. Income depends heavily on remittances from overseas countries and business-processing outsourcing (more familiarly known as call centres). Firms in many countries have shifted their call0centre business to the Philippines because of the high level of English fluency among Filipinos.

Rachakorns said the high level of foreign remittances had boosted spending in the country. The shopping-mall, property and office/condominium rental sectors are all booming, the counsellor said.

Source : http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Thai-investors-urged-to-target-Philippines-Myanmar-30207172.html