American firms want to relocate to Thailand to counter US-China trade war
PHOTO: “You’re all welcome!” – Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha at the ASEAN Business Summit – Bangkok Post
US business leaders visiting Thailand are looking for opportunities, especially relocating their production bases, as they try to sort out heir businesses in the wake of the US-China trade war.
The US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and executives of 16 American companies met the Thai Finance Minister at the ASEAN Summit to discuss trade and investment. They told the Minister that US firms are especially interested in in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), Thailand’s flagship economic project. One of the world’s leading medical supplies makers has already invested in the area.
The companies are also looking at the energy, infrastructure and financial services areas, according to the Ministry.
Ross and the delegation are visiting Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam to promote the “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” strategy, seen as a countermove against China’s Belt and Road Initiative. But their rhetoric belies a highly protectionist new paradigm for US trade policy.
Ross also supports Thailand 4.0 and praised the Kingdom for moving up to 21st place in the Doing Business ranking and for successfully hosting the 35th ASEAN Summit last week in Bangkok.
SOURCE: The Nation
