According to the report of Thailand’s “World News” on March 8th, Peng Ni, the executive of Thailand Promotion Investment Committee (BOI), disclosed recent business talks with Burma. He said that in the past, a total of four Thai companies have invested in Myanmar’s Poipet Special Economic Zone. Most of the textile and garment industries, such as the Hong Seng Group and the Nice Group, chose to invest in Myanmar mainly because local labor costs were lower and production costs could be reduced.

Thai Business Association Du Ze pointed out that in order to reduce the production costs of investment in Myanmar, the Thai government has been committed to promoting Thai-Myanmar relations, and prompted Thai commercial banks to settle in Myanmar to provide convenience to Thai investment companies. At present, KTB and SCB have entered Myanmar, but applying for credit still requires the use of fixed assets in Myanmar to guarantee that most of the Thai companies investing in Myanmar need to perform in Thailand.

Wen Luo, a Thai company executive, believes that Thai companies can invest in rice milling, food processing, garments, power plants, and hospitality industries in Myanmar. If it is approved for investment, corporate income tax will be reduced or exempted for 3-9 years, and import taxes on machinery and raw materials will be reduced. Up to now, China is Myanmar's largest investment country, with a total investment of 7.72 billion U.S. dollars, followed by South Korea’s 3.9 billion U.S. dollars, Malaysia’s 2.38 billion U.S. dollars, and Thailand’s 746 million U.S. dollars, of which Thailand’s textile industry has invested 2.5 percent. One hundred million U.S. dollars.

Pobe is an important economic zone in Myanmar. It is one of the most important border trade cities and only 7-10 kilometers from the Thai-Burma border.

May 03, 2019