US Chamber: Thai policies may jeopardise
The US Chamber of Commerce recently released results from a new survey of 234 business executives from across five continents showing Thailand's new economic policies and poor intellectual-property safeguards could be jeopardising international investment.
"Global businesses have a long history of successfully working in Thailand, but recent feedback from business leaders shows concern about their future," said Lt-General (retired) Daniel Christman, the chamber's senior vice president for international affairs. "We need to do everything we can to work with the Thai government to ensure that policies follow globally accepted business practices, including regular consultations on pending economic decisions that impact foreign companies and investors operating in Thailand."The survey showed 11 per cent of executives indicated their companies had active expansion plans in Thailand, while another 40 per cent reported their firms were currently looking at future investment options. Fully 75 per cent of executives said the recent military coup and controversial new economic policies in Thailand - such as currency controls, new foreign-ownership laws and government decisions on intellectual property rights regarding compulsory pharmaceutical licences - would be factors in their final decision on investment over the next three years. North American business executives showed even more concern than their counterparts from other regions of the world. Many executives reported concerns that Thailand had weak intellectual-property laws and was not going far enough to enforce the laws it already had. Thailand ranked third among Southeast Asian nations for "very weak" intellectual-property laws, faring better only than Vietnam and Indonesia. Fewer than 1 per cent thought Thailand was "very effective" at enforcing intellectual-property laws currently on the books. The US Chamber is the world's largest business federation, representing more than 3 million businesses and organisations of every size and sector from each region.
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