PENANG: MALAYSIAN domestic investments in Thailand for the first three months of this year have been valued at US$57.75 million (RM241 million) with a total registered capital of US$9.46 million.
Malaysian ambassador to Thailand Datuk Jojie Samuel said there were 15 project applications approved for Malaysian investments in Thailand.
“The total capital registered by the Malaysian companies in the 15 approved projects was valued at US$8.28 million,” he told the New Straits Times.
Samuel said Malaysian companies invested in agricultural products (five projects), light industries and textiles (one), metal products and machinery (three), electrical and electronics (three), chemicals and paper (one) and services (two).
“Malaysian investments in Thailand for the past four years have been focusing more on setting up regional headquarters in Thailand, investing in machinery, automotive, electrical and electronics and green energy products.
“We expect this trend to continue in 2020.”
Samuel said for the first quarter of this year, Thai foreign direct investments (FDI) totalled RM1.88 billion. FDI for the second quarter of this year stood at RM2.2 billion.
During the third quarter of last year, Thai FDI in Malaysia was at RM1.28 billion and in the last quarter of last year, the figure stood at RM1.73 billion.
“The top three Malaysian states with investments in Thailand are Selangor, Penang and Johor,” Samuel said.
They include Kemaman Oil Corporation Sdn Bhd employing 31 people, Kemaman Bitumen Company Sdn Bhd (155), Far East Petroleum Sdn Bhd (54, DSG (M) Sdn Bhd (82) and Star Feedmills (M) Sdn Bhd (52).
On business opportunities for Thai companies in Malaysia, Samuel named halal hubs for the food and agriculture industry, with an ecosystem approach to be adopted to strengthen cooperation between Thai and Malaysian companies.
“Another potential route is via mergers and acquisitions for strategic alliances, as seen in the Thai Beverage Public Company takeover of Fraser & Neave, as well as the Berli Jucker Public Company Ltd takeover of Malaya Glass Products Sdn Bhd and Jacy Foods Sdn Bhd ,” he added.
On tourism, Samuel said for this year, Malaysia set a target of 2.1 million tourists from Thailand.
“From January to July, Malaysia welcomed 1.152 million tourists and this figure showed a 2.9 per cent increase compared with the corresponding period last year.
“#ThaiPaiMalaysia has been introduced as an online marketing strategy to encourage tourists from Thailand to come to Malaysia as their preferred holiday destination for families and friends.
“We will continue to carry out initiatives to promote Malaysia for family holidays, world-class shopping, theme parks and unique cultures to drive tourism growth from Thailand.”
Last year, Thailand was ranked fourth in Malaysia’s top 10 tourist-generating markets after Singapore, Indonesia and China.