Thai industrial developer Amata eyes to expand in Vietnam

“When planning expansion, we focus on the Mekong [River] region as a whole,” said Viboon Kromadit, Amata’s chief marketing officer, in an interview with Nikkei Asia.

“For this year, we are still focused on Vietnam, while Laos is emerging as a new and interesting country that we entered last year. We will soon start developing an industrial estate there,” he said.

The company has set aside some five billion baht ($144 million) of capital expenditure for next year. Of this, more than 50% is earmarked for industrial development in Vietnam, 20% for projects in Thailand and the remainder for a new undertaking in Laos.

The company already controls three industrial parks in northern and southern Vietnam totaling 18.3 square kilometers. The parks house more than 200 factories.

With average economic growth of around 8% annually and a young, relatively inexpensive labor force, Vietnam has attracted many investors from around the world.