Special Report: South Africa: emerging investment opportunities for Thai entrepreneurs
Special Report: South Africa: emerging investment opportunities for Thai entrepreneurs
The Board of Investment suggested that Thai entrepreneurs invested in South Africa due to its potential and natural resources, yet warned that sufficient and comprehensive facts should be provided beforehand.
Mrs. Atchaka Sibunruang Brimble, Secretary General of the Board of Investment, stated that in order to avoid excessive competitions and pricing wars among Asian countries such as China, India and Japan, Thai entrepreneurs should consider South Africa as emerging investment opportunities.
Mrs. Atchaka reasoned that South Africa was the largest economy in Africa with a Gross National Product (GNP) of over 25% as well as the world’s largest exporter of numerous natural resources including Manganese, Cadmium, Platinum and Gold.
Mrs. Atchaka confirmed the country was a promising market as there were nearly 50 million people living there with income per capita of as much as US$ 5,313. She elaborated that after opening the country, there was significant growth in South Africa’s tourism which was expected to increase further due to the upcoming World Cup 2010.
In the trade policy, the Secretary General explained that South Africa had considered foreign investment as a national agenda and started a Reconstruction Development Program (RDP) resulting in much better infrastructure than other African countries.
It was also reported that many European countries and USA had long invested in the country, especially England. The country had also been an important production base for several world-class European automotive brands like Volkswagen, Chrysler, Ford, BMW and GM.
To invest in South Africa was not only a springboard to export to other countries in the region, but with the partnership agreement between the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States and the European Union (ACP-EC), the country offered investors an access to major countries in the US and European region, claimed Mrs. Atchaka.
Consequently, Mrs. Atchaka believed there were extensive investment opportunities for Thailand, especially in service sectors such as hotel and restaurant, tourism and entertainment in which Thai enterprises excelled.
However, the expert warned that the related public sector needed more information about the advantages and constraints of the South African economy. She exemplified that Thai people misunderstood and thought that the country’s economy was as poor as other countries in the region.
For constraints, Mrs. Atchaka mentioned that the country had passed a bill entitled Black Economic Empowerment requiring overseas investors to cooperate with the local private sector and hire black people. As a result, if Thai entrepreneurs had not paid enough attention to the product’s standards and implemented proper training programs, the local labors who lacked knowledge and capacity might lead to a poor production output.
Mrs. Atchaka cautioned that Thai businessmen should adhere to South Africa’s strict trade regulations about the standard and safety of specific products including cosmetics, food and fresh vegetable and fruit.
To solve the problem of the lack of information of Thai people, Mrs. Atchaka suggested that interested Thai enterprises consulted the Board of Investment before making any decisions. She insisted that the board had provided a number of relevant researches as well as kept a close contact with the South African Embassy.
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Posted by Siam Daily News
on Oct 1 2009. Filed under Business, World.
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