Thai Summit Autoparts look to invest in russia,africa

Executive vice president Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit said recently that although the auto-parts manufacturer had no actual plans yet to invest in the two countries, the firm would certainly do a feasibility study for future investments.

Russia is in the BRIC group - the new global markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China. Meanwhile, South Africa is one of the biggest pickup-production bases in the world, he said.

"There's no doubt why we're interested in Russia. It's a new market, one in which several countries are looking for business opportunities. Besides, we should invest in South Africa to safeguard pickup production in the local market," said Thanathorn.

The company has already established auto-parts factories in Malaysia, Vietnam, India, Indonesia and China and been very successful in India and Indonesia. Revenue from production in India jumped from Bt200 million in the first year of operation to Bt1.2 billion in 2006 and doubled to Bt2.4 billion last year. The company expects the Indian market to contribute revenue of Bt5 billion by 2011.