Thailand has managed to convince four of China’s leading companies to expand their production bases in Thailand during talks between a Thai delegation, led by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and their representatives in Chengdu on Saturday, according to Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas today.
He estimated the total investment by the four companies, namely Changan Automobile, InnoLight Technology, Huawei Technologies and Eoptolink Technology, at about 70 billion baht.
He attributed the willingness to expand or relocate their production bases out of China to Thailand’s geopolitical advantage, adding that this new wave of foreign investment is similar to the phenomenon in the 80s, when Japanese companies relocated their production bases to the Eastern Seaboard.
Ekniti claimed that this new wave of investment bolsters Thailand’s transition to modern industries, encompassing AI technology, electric vehicles and smart robotics. The International Monetary Fund has predicted that Thailand will emerge as a rising star in global technology.
He noted that the government’s new strategy to attract foreign investment includes not just incentives under the Board of Investment, but also the IPO approach to fast-track the process for these companies to be listed on the Thai stock market.
Changan Automobile operates 21 major manufacturing bases and 76 vehicle and engine plants globally, with its HQ and flagship smart factories in Chongqing.
InnoLight Technology is a global market leader in high-speed optical transceivers. They supply half of Nvidia’s 800G optical modules and dominate the emerging 1.6T market. Their technology converts electrical signals into light to physically connect GPUs and switches inside massive AI data centres.
Huawei Technologies is a leading global provider of information and communications technology infrastructure and small devices. The company operates in 170 countries. Their diverse portfolio spans telecom network equipment, consumer electronics, cloud computing and digital power solutions.
Eoptolink Technology is a leading global designer and manufacturer of advanced optical transceivers. The company’s high-speed optical modules act as the vital, high-bandwidth plumbing of AI clusters and cloud data centres, directly connecting and linking servers and graphics processing units.
