Cambodia is considered “the most promising country” in the ASEAN
community where Thai business entrepreneurs could set up trade and investment
projects, according to a noted Thai academic and economist.
Roongrote Benjamasuthin, director
of the University of Thai Chamber of Commerce’s ASEAN Business & Economic
Center, has said that Thais transnational conglomerates and small- and
medium-sized entrepreneurs now look on Cambodia as “the most promising” site
for their projects and could help usher in the birth of an ASEAN Economic Community
(AEC) by Y 2015.
The economist said that a wide
range of business opportunities are open to Thai businessmen only if they have
enough venture capital at their disposal.
“We should take advantage of the
geographical proximity between Thailand and Cambodia while the Thai government
has planned to build and expand roads and railways to link the two neighboring
countries.Part of these infrastructure would be serviceable when the AEC
finally takes off in the next few years,” Roongrote said.
Though a variety of businesses
are already being run by the Thais inside Cambodia, others were advised to
follow suit and take advantage of the country with a population of 15 million,
according to Roongrote.
According to Roongrote, Thai
products, ranging from consumer items such as soap, toothpaste and shampoo,
clothes, shoes and electrical appliances, have firmly secured the Cambodian
market in addition to Thai fresh fruits and instant foods.
The economist advised Thai
investors to look for Cambodian business partners so that they could get things
done more easily and promptly.
“The Thai brand names of varied
products have remained preferable to the Cambodians who have not had
manufacturing factories of their own as yet. The Thais could continue to
transport the goods from Thailand to Cambodia to penetrate new markets and
expand the existing ones until the AEC opens in Y 2015,” Roongrote said.
Thai investors could also open
garment factories and rice mills, among other industries, in the neighboring
country, he said.
One advantage of doing business
in Cambodia, Roongrote said, is its cheap labor. Cambodia’s daily wage of 200
baht, US$6.6, is considerably lower than the 300 baht, US$10, in Thailand.
Thai Prime Minister Yingluck
Shinawatra has announced that Thailand would help the Cambodian government
headed by Prime Minister Hun Sen in expanding its road and railway network
inside the Indochinese country to help push the inter-connectivity scheme
within the ASEAN bloc.
Unresolved disputes over strips
of land along the shared border notwithstanding, Bangkok has offered to
co-invest with Phnom Penh in the exploring and producing of oil and natural gas
in Cambodian maritime territory in the Gulf of Thailand.
The Yingluck government has also
urged the Thai private sector to invest in infrastructure and manufacturing
projects inside Myanmar, now that it has reopened its door to the world
community following decades of self-isolation under military rule.
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