Four new industrial estates will go on sale this year to accommodate industrial plants which are still being established, despite the political and economic uncertainty, according to the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT).

"Business operators are still demanding new land for their industrial plants. They have not entirely stalled on their investment plans," Uthai Junthima, governor of the state agency which oversees state and private industrial estates nationwide, said yesterday when asked if the new estates would find any buyers.

Of the four estates, Thai Factory Development has developed 500 rai in Chachoengsao province to support an expansion of auto-parts industries after Toyota set up an automotive plant there.

VRM Group Holding created an ethanol industrial estate on 1,000 rai in Ratchaburi province, while another is an integrated-steel complex, belonging to Sahaviriya Steel Industries in Prachuap Khiri Khan province.

The operators have received approval from the IEAT but they are yet to hold a public hearing before proceeding with the investment.

The Saha Group also asked to register its industrial park in Prachin Buri as an industrial estate for higher tax privileges.

The Board of Investment (BoI) yesterday also announced that in the first quarter, 250 projects had filed applications for investment privileges. The projects' combined value is Bt129 billion, which is 74.3 per cent higher than Bt74 billion in the same period last year. The projects will employ about 60,000 people.

Most are involved in the agricultural processing, automobile, electrical parts, petrochemical and services sectors. Eighty-one projects with a combined investment value of Bt39 billion are from Japan, accounting for 45 per cent of all applications filed by foreign companies.

The BoI has targeted approval of Bt500 billion in investment projects this year, the same level as last year.

"There remains strong interest in investing in new projects, particularly in the petrochemical and auto businesses, as many upstream and downstream plants already exist. Political problems are short-term, while these investments require three to five years in the making. They need to invest now for business continuity," said BoI secretary-general Satit Chanjavanakul.

To highlight Thailand's dream of becoming an auto hub, in May the BoI also plans to finalise guidelines for the small-car project, which Satit said was vital for the economy. The Industry Ministry has estimated the project will lead to investments of about Bt20 billion.

The BoI also plans to provide the highest tax privileges to petrochemical plants which will be located on the Southern Seaboard, to relieve the problem of overcrowding on the Eastern Seaboard.

Meanwhile, the IEAT held a seminar to promote a distribution centre in Mukdahan, as part of the East-West Economic Corridor Agreement.

Uthai said it was a strategic location for operators because they could transfer their goods to Laos and Vietnam via the second Mekong International Bridge. They can also continue transferring to East Asia through Vietnam's Danang port.

He said the Vietnamese government was expanding the port's capacity to accommodate vessels of more than 100,000 tonnes from the current capacity of 10,000 tonnes.

In addition, the location is near Savannakhet airport in Laos.

He said there had been eight property owners who would like to develop their areas into distribution centres.

Last year, the authority decided to study the project's possibility for three blocks of land. One block of 2,000 rai belongs to Saharueng and another, of 922 rai, belongs to Panasinsub. The third, of 500 rai, is owned by the public sector.

He added that all projects would be developed and invested in by the private sector, while the public sector would be a facilitator.

He estimated that they had to spend Bt100 million to Bt200 million on constructing one distribution centre on an area of 50 rai. Meanwhile, they have to use at least Bt2 billion to develop as an industrial estate on the same-sized area.

The IEAT will hold a road show for investors in June.

Chalida

Ekvitthayavechnukul,

Somluck Srimalee

The Nation