Thailand has considerable opportunities to expand its agriculture in other Southeast Asian nations, especially those sharing its border, the office of agricultural economics (OAE) announced
Bhumisak Rasri, director of OAE, said that the formation of the ASEAN community in 2015 would bring about such opportunities in other ASEAN countries that are sources of abundant resources and large markets.
Pattaya Mail reported that the director has recommended Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, in particular.
Bhumisak added that Thailand should invest in organic farming, advanced agriculture, rice mills, aquaculture and the production and processing of aquatic animals in Cambodia. In Laos, Thailand should invest in the production and processing of farm products, livestock development, and freshwater fisheries in the Mekong River, he said.
The agro-industries, food processing and the manufacturing of para rubber products in Indonesia were also recommended.
He encouraged Thai investors to thoroughly study the countries where they want to invest.
In 2013, a major share of Thailand’s foreign direct investment in Southeast Asia went to Singapore (US$7.22bn), followed by Indonesia and Malaysia (US$2.76bn each).
