|
Electronics
Thailand's
electronics industry has made major strides in the past decade
and now produce many types of electronics equipment,
subassemblies and components. The electronics industry has
played an increasingly important role in the manufacturing
sector, particularly with product manufactured for export. Among
the leading industrial and professional electronics products are
hard disk drives for computer, keyboards and telephones.
Thailand also has become a major manufacturing and assembly base
for a number of electronic and related components, including
integrated circuits, printed circuit boards, miniature ball
bearings, computer cards and cables. During the rapid economic
growth of 1986-1994, higher value-added and higher technology
products such as facsimiles and cellular telephones began to be
produced. Firms that manufactured components for export
gradually started supplying parts Dan components to be assembled
into export products.
Some
of the most promising investment opportunities in Thailand's
electronics industry are in the areas of consumer electronics,
computers and peripherals, communication equipment, electronic
assemblies, and supporting industries such as molds and dies,
metal plating, transformer winding.
Thailand's
automotive industry has performed spectacularly since 1988,
tripling production from 145,000 units to almost a half a
million units in 1993. Production is projected to reach 1
million units by 2,000. The kingdom is currently Southeast Asia's
largest and most dynamic auto market and the world's second
largest pickup market. Thailand
is well positioned to join the small global group of automotive
"tigers," whose performance places them a notch below
the automotive giants (Japan, North America and Europe), but
well ahead of other developing countries. Thailand
initiated its diversification drive in 1991 by allowing
competition from imports for the first time in 20 years. In 1992
alone Thailand imported 22,000 vehicles or 20 percent of the
passenger car segment. Under pressure from imports, domestic
producers cut prices by up to 25 percent, with the result being
more people can afford cars, government revenues are up and
Thailand's industry is now more productive. Further
diversification through import duty reductions are in the offing.
A
second tool fro diversification in promotion of new vehicle
assembly operations. The Board of Investment has re-opened
promotion privileges to auto-motive assembly projects for export,
aiming to make Thailand a regional automotive production centre.
This is encouraging North American, Korean, and European firms
to enter a market that has been near-exclusively owned by
Japanese manufacturers. Thailand
effectively implemented local content requirements in the 1980s
and 1990s to achieve basic component assembly and delivery
capabilities. In its quest to enhance its global competitiveness,
Thailand is now making industrial deepening a priority as it
courts new investments in components and supporting industries.
Established automakers are expanding their investments and
setting up supply lines within the country; this is considered a
strong indication of the profitability of such operations.
Industrial
deepening will transform the automotive assembly industries into
pillars of the economy, which will integrate raw steel into
metal-bending into finished body panels. Ventures which promise
additional value-added work in Thailand are favoured.
Thailand's
auto industry means to get globally competitive. Look for
Thailand to pursue market diversification Dan industrial
deepening to achieve competitive targets in 2000. Well-managed,
progressive foreign companies should seize ensuing opportunities
and take their share of Asia's fastest growing automotive market.
Engineering
Plastics and Synthetic Fibers Engineering
plastics, with their superior properties, are finding increasing
uses in applications demanding higher performance than commodity
plastics. Engineering plastics include polyacetal nylon,
polycarbonate, and thermoplastic polyester molding compounds.
Now only nylon is produced in Thailand mainly for the synthetic
fibre industry. Thailand has been exporting an ever larger part
of its synthetic fibre production.
Engineering
plastics have seen excellent growth over the past few years and
the Board of Investment announced in April 1994 that it will
begin granting special investment incentives for the production
of engineering plastics as part of its strategy to encourage
growth in Thailand's supporting industries.
Investment
opportunities for engineering plastics include polyacetal, nylon,
PET, and PBT. Production of these compounds is promoted by the
BOI. The growing demand for PBT at around 1,500 to 2,000 tons a
year is a possible investment opportunity.
The
expansion of production facilities for the three main synthetic
fibres (polyester, nylon and acrylic) for domestic and export
markets is being met by new investments. New investment
opportunities will depend entirely on the export market and it
is expected that foreign investment will play an important role
in this development.
|
