Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij opened “Thailand Focus 2011 – Enhancing Thailand’s Competitiveness through the Next Decade”. At this extravaganza, over 700 international and domestic fund managers, analysts, and other investors found out about Thai listed companies’ and the economy . This year’s event is from March 28-30, in Bangkok, and is organized by The Stock Exchange of Thailand, Phatra Securities PCL, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva confirmed that the Thai economy has continued to strengthen during the past few years, with GDP expanding by as much as 8% in 2010 with a stronger current account and Thai baht. Mr. Abhisit also said that while these factors have demonstrated Thailand’s competitiveness, he believes that local political reform will help improve political situation, while private investment expansion will help the Thai economy to grow constantly in the next decade.
Today’s opening ceremony was joined by Finance Minister Korn, who presented the government’s economic policies and its growth enhancement plan, boosting confidence among participants.
“This year’s event is well-received by the 79 leading institutional investors from all over the world, which have large portfolios and presence in major global markets, along with analysts, executives from securities and private companies as well as state agencies. There are in total more than 700 participants. The management teams from 67 Thai listed companies, representing 8 major industry groups and with a market cap of more than THB6.7 trillion (approx. USD221.27 billion), or 88% of total market cap (as of March 24, 2011), present their information to investors throughout the event. We are confident that Thailand Focus is a prime opportunity for the country to demonstrate its economic potential and strength through well-documented information from participating companies, including their past excellent records on continued earnings and profit growth that have been achieved despite a number of crises. The Thai stock market also possesses high liquidity, as proven by the daily average trading value of more than USD1.0 billion. We will likely draw strong interest from major foreign institutional investors and this should lead to a rise in investment weight”, said SET President Charamporn Jotikasthira.
Phatra Securities Chief Executive Officer Aphinant Klewpatinond said that this year’s Thailand Focus has been well-received by both local and overseas investors, 70% of which were from within Asia. The organizers were honored to see the participation of the Laos Securities Exchange and one of its listed firms, Electricite du Laos Generation Public Company. During these 3 days, there have been more than 800 meetings scheduled, which reflect the strong investment interest in Asia, an emerging market that has continued to offer good returns. The opportunities to hear directly from listed firms will also help boost investor confidence, especially when corporate executives are able to explain and answer all queries, both political and economic, to visiting investors.
Mr. Rupert Hume–Kendall, Chairman of Global Capital Markets, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, said that BAML was delighted to be a part of this year’s event. The potential of Asia, particularly Thailand, which possesses strong economic fundamentals and has proven able to weather a series of uncertainties with an impressive track record, will convince the world of its capacity to always expand further. He added that the gathering was an important opportunity to increase institutional investor confidence through the many direct presentations by both state and private sectors to participants at the Thailand Focus 2011.
