THAI FIRMS URGED TO SEEK JOINT VENTURES IN JAPAN

       Manufacturers in supporting industries are being encouraged to form joint ventures with Japanese firms and operate in that country as market conditions open up there.
       Chanin Khaochan, director of the BOI Unit for Industrial Linkage Development (Build), believes supporting industries can turn economic crisis into opportunity.
       It is difficult to penetrate the Japanese market when the economy is good. Hence, now is a good opportunity, because Japanese firms are looking for partners for foreign investment, in order to reduce business risks," Chanin said.
       He said investment in supporting industries had plunged this year, due mainly to a steep decline in the automotive and electronics industries.
       Investment applications in such industries in the first seven months were worth Bt20 billion, 40 per cent of them from companies based in Osaka, Japan.
       He believes these industries will recover next year in line with the global economy.
       Build and the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry co-hosted a business-matching event between 14 Japanese and 50 Thai companies in Bangkok yesterday.
       Toru Hashimoto, governor of Osaka prefecture, said manufacturers there were very strong in advanced technology. Small and medium-sized producers were clustered together, which could be beneficial to Thai partners.
       Thailand Trade Representative Vachara Phanchet said the Japan External Trade Organisation and the Development Bank of Japan had both agreed to provide loans to Thai companies operating in Japan, in order to promote their investment there, especially in the service sector and especially for spas and restaurants.
       "Something else to attract Thai firms is they can mobilise the capital in Japan's Alternative Investment Market, which is open to foreign companies. Listing in this market will foster an international image for Thai companies and allow them to mobilise funds more easily for operating in Japan," he said.
       Governor Hashimoto will meet Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva today to tighten trade and investment relations between Thailand and Osaka.
       Osaka is Japan's main manufacturing centre, with combined revenue of US$333 billion (Bt11.37 trillion) last year, or 8 per cent of the nation's gross domestic product.