Foreign investors such as a Norway-based fund are ready to increase their investment in the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) if the country’s political climate has improved, according to Thailand’s Assistant Government Spokesman Chotichai Suwannapaporn.
The fund viewed Thailand as having one of the region’s most attractive investment magnets in the region, but that political uncertainties had dampened the investment atmosphere during the past two years.
It conceded that the global economy had experienced a great challenge. In particular, the United States economy, which is the world’s biggest in terms of size, had slowed down considerably as never before.
At the same time, the Chinese economy, which has grown continuously for 20 years, might be affected by the US economic slowdown because it had the highest export value with the country.
Mr. Chotihai said the fund weighed up to 17 per cent of its total investment of US$500 million in Thailand and 35 per cent in South Korea.
Normally, many funds weighed an average of 2-2.5 per cent of their total investment in Thailand.
He said the fund executives had also discussed with senior executives of many commercial banks and shared a common view that the Thai economy remains of no concern next year because it will be in the honeymoon period of the new government.
They believed the economy might expand more satisfactorily in the second half of next year because the state spending on mega-investment projects and the budget disbursement is expected to accelerate, he added.
