Thailand is the most attractive destination in Asean for South Korean investors this year, driven by the country’s greater political stability and large state-sponsored projects like the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).
Kim Nam-wook, deputy director-general of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (Kotra), said South Korean investors are focusing on the automotive and parts, high-tech electronics (including smart electronics), consumer products and cosmetics industries.
South Korea’s government initiated an investment strategy called the New Southern Policy under President Moon Jae-in, which aims to expand that country’s economic footprint in Asean.
“South Korean companies aim to expand their investments in Thailand, especially in automotive and parts and smart electronics,” said Mr Kim. “Thailand is a gateway to Asean and has a strong value chain and clusters for those sectors.”
Kotra’s Bangkok meeting yesterday wanted to create more investment in Thailand, welcoming representatives from 187 companies from South Korea, India, Pakistan, Europe and Asean.
Some 13 Korea-based companies, 13 Thailand-based Korean companies and one Vietnamese company participated in the meeting.
Tier 1 and Tier 2 Thai companies joined the meeting as buyers, in addition to 41 importers and nine overseas buyers. Erae automotive, Samil CTS Vina, Duck Sung, Dae-a electronics, Sindo, Thai Summit, Mitsubishi, Honda, Toyota and Pakistan’s Al-Haj group were among the participating firms.
Jun Choon-woo, director-general of Kotra, said the South Korean government aims to increase its trade volume in Asean, including Thailand, to US$140 billion (4.6 trillion baht) in 2020.
“South Korea’s top three investment targets are Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, in that order,” said Mr Jun. “Thailand has strong industry clusters in the automotive and parts, electronics and electrical sectors.”
More than 200 South Korean companies have invested in Thailand, many of which plan to invest in the EEC.
According to Thailand’s Board of Investment (BoI), in the first three months of 2018, South Korea was the 10th-largest foreign investor in Thailand, with 483 million baht distributed over six projects.
The BoI approved five Korean investment projects, worth 115 million baht, in that period.
During 2012-17, South Korea’s foreign direct investment in Thailand was 38 billion baht, distributed over 238 projects.
