Offshore investors focusing more on Kingdom
Investors from tax havens and financially liberalised countries made significant investments in Thai securities last year, according to Bank of Thailand data.
The Cayman Islands, Mauritius, British Virgin Islands and Ivory Coast are among the countries shown investing heavily in 2005. Countries where financial services are wide open, such as Switzerland and Luxembourg, are also listed among the active investors. The United Kingdom kept its hold on the top rank with Bt537.9 billion of securities investment, accounting for 34.7 per cent of the total. Last year, total foreign investment in Thai securities grew 33 per cent to Bt1.6 trillion, according to the central bank's statistics. Of the total, the stock market took the lion's share, or Bt1.4 trillion, which was an increase of 30 per cent over 2004. Investment in debt securities jumped 103 per cent to Bt98 billion, and positions in financial derivatives were up 32 per cent to Bt12.8 billion. The British Virgin Islands invested Bt1.1 billion - up 725 per cent from 2004 - mostly in equities. Investors from Mauritius poured Bt2.1 billion of funds into the equity market, an annual increase of 231 per cent. The Cayman Islands pulled out 73 per cent of its investment, leaving a total of Bt1.1 billion, of which Bt843 million was in the equity market and Bt217 million in debt securities. Investors from Switzerland had Bt68.6 billion in the Thai securities market, up 182 per cent. Of the total, Bt66.8 billion was in equities, Bt1.3 billion in debt securities and Bt438 million in financial derivatives. Luxembourg owned Bt79.6 billion of Thai securities, 97 per cent more than in 2004. Of the total, Bt78.7 billion was in the stock market, Bt461 million in financial derivatives and Bt405 million in the debt market. Singapore accounted for 17.9 per cent of total foreign investment, or Bt277.1 billion, up 15 per cent from 2004. Of the total, Bt266.4 billion was in the equity market, Bt6.9 billion in the debt market and Bt3.8 billion in financial derivatives. Hong Kong invested Bt73.5 billion in securities, accelerating by 365 per cent from 2004. Of the total, Bt59.8 billion was in the stock market, Bt13.3 billion in debt securities and Bt457 billion in financial derivatives. According to the BOT, 33.2 per cent of the total capital was invested in the banking sector, followed by 17.2 per cent in manufacturing, 16.2 per cent in state enterprises, 15.5 per cent in services and 6.3 per cent in real estate. Anoma Srisukkasem The Nation
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