Thailand's investment into Viet Nam surged quickly in the recent past, making investment a successful cooperative area in the two countries' ties, said the Foreign Investment Department under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Thailand, with 153 investment projects and a combined registered capital of 1.54 billion USD, currently ranks 12th in the list 79 countries and territories or third among ASEAN countries to directly invest in Viet Nam.

They include 83 operational projects employing 12,000 workers, and also indirectly generating jobs for many workers in the areas of construction and services.

Almost all Thai investment projects focus on such areas as building infrastructure for industrial zones, new urban centers with hotels, and facilities for tourism and industry, concentrating on Dong Nai and Binh Duong provinces, Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City.

The Foreign Investment Department also reported that nearly 67 percent of Thailand's projects in Viet Nam are wholly-foreign invested projects, holding nearly 56 percent of the total registered capital; and 27.6 percent of projects are by joint venture companies, holding with 43 percent of the total capital.

Among Thai projects operating profitably in Viet Nam is the CP Viet Nam animal feeds company in Dong Nai province. With a capital of 328 million USD, it turns out feeds for cattle and breeding poultry. In 2006, the company fetched a revenue of 300 million USD, generating jobs for more than 5,000 locals.

Another successful Thai investor is Siam Cement, a 100-year-old economic group of Thailand. Siem Cement has invested in five chemical and building materials projects in industrial parks in Binh Duong and Dong Nai provinces. After 10 years' operation in Viet Nam, it decided to invest 220 million USD to build a high-grade wrapping paper factory in My Phuoc industrial park, southern Binh Duong province. The factory with a capacity of 220,000 tonnes of product per year will be the biggest of its kind in Viet Nam. Construction of the project will begin in the third quarter of this year and the factory is expected to be operational in 2009.

Vice President of Siam Cement Group Roongrote Rangsiyopash, said that Viet Nam's potential in natural resources, labour force in addition to stable political situation are the main factors to attract Thai investors to the country.

The Thai Chemical Group, which has operated many investment projects in Viet Nam, also plans to enter a joint venture with the Viet Nam Oil and Gas Corporation to launch a petrochemical complex in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province with a total investment of over 1.5 billion USD.

Thailand-based cement companies are also carrying out a plan to increase their investment into Viet Nam to 3 billion USD this year and to 6 billion USD in the next several years.

Speaking on the occasion of the Viet Nam visit by more than 100 Thai businesses last Mach, former Thai Foreign Minister Arsa Sarasin praised Viet Nam's high economic growth rate and affirmed that Thai businesses would continue boosting investment into Viet Nam.

For Viet Nam, Thailand is one of important addresses for its promotion activities to lure foreign direct investment.

Phan Huu Thang, Director of the Foreign Investment Department, said that Vietnamese localities and businesses will increase efforts to attract Thai investment into the production of export goods, processing industry, service industry and agricultural and rural economic development, IT applications, biotechnology and electronics.- (VNA)