Japanese firms expect conditions to improve
The Japanese Chamber of Commerce in Bangkok said yesterday that harsh economic and political developments had weakened the economy this year but conditions should improve in the rest of the year.
Utsueo Kuroda, chairman of the chamber's economic research committee, said his panel had conducted a random survey of the chamber's members for its "Economic Outlook in the Eyes of Japanese Joint Ventures in Thailand" report, according to the Thai News Agency.Most respondents reported that the overall business climate had weakened markedly in the first half of this year, due to surging oil prices, higher interest rates, a stronger baht and political uncertainties. However, they predicted that things would turn around in the second half, although JCCB forecasts the economy remaining sluggish. Japanese firms will make no changes to their investments here over the next one to two years because parent companies were vested in their plans. But should the unfavourable environment drag on, medium- and long-term investment plans by Japanese investors would likely be scaled back. Soaring interest rates are likely to hurt the economy the most because investors need loans to pay for capital projects, Kuroda said.
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