Thursday April 10, 2008
NAREERAT WIRIYAPONG
Bangkok Post
The Japanese trading giant Mitsui & Co has short-listed Thailand as one of three potential destinations to expand its food business outside its home country to cash in on rising global food prices. Akio Yamamoto, a top executive of Mitsui & Co (Thailand), said the company may invest in fish cultivation and processing in Thailand or other countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) where food sufficiency is high.
The project would involve freshwater fish such as catfish and tilapia, he said.
''Thailand and GMS are the most suitable areas for this project because they produce food a lot more than they need for local consumption,'' said Mr Yamamoto, who is also in charge of Mitsui operations in the GMS. Vietnam and Cambodia are also being studied.
Unlike manufacturers in other sectors such as automobiles and electronics, most Japanese food companies have focused on doing business at home despite their capacity to expand abroad, he said.
''Now it's time for the Japanese food industry to change and come to the world market. This is the area we are looking at,'' said Mr Yamamoto.
''After the sharp increase of oil and steel prices, I think food prices have such a tendency to rise, starting with rice, of which Thailand is the world's number one exporter.''
Given Thailand's abundance of raw materials, Mr Yamamoto said it had the potential to enlarge its presence in the global food business.
''What needs to be done for Thailand is increasing the productivity, food safety and trading ability in the world market,'' he said. ''Our team has worked on investment locations and potential local partners in Thailand.''
In its 100 years in Thailand, Mitsui's only food business has been sugar production. Its two local mills export sugar to Asian markets including Japan, Europe and the Middle East.
''Our new food project is not only looking at the domestic Thai market but also exporting Thai-made food to overseas market,'' Mr Yamamoto said.
But he suggested the government not prolong its price-control strategy. ''To control prices in the short term to help the consumers is fine, but they shouldn't prolong this strategy. If the operations are not profitable, manufacturers have a tendency to cut production.''
Mitsui operates 100 joint ventures in Thailand with total turnover of 100 billion baht forecast for the fiscal year starting this month.
About a quarter of its sales were generated from the iron and steel business, 15% from chemicals, 10% each from infrastructure and food, with the rest from consumer services, such as IT and telecoms, and logistics, he said.
Mitsui is also looking at possibly expanding its infrastructure businesses, which include power and water supply.
''We are considering investing in ... new independent power producer projects, in addition to supplying parts and equipment to power plants as we have done in the past,'' said Mr Yamamoto.
The project would involve freshwater fish such as catfish and tilapia, he said.
''Thailand and GMS are the most suitable areas for this project because they produce food a lot more than they need for local consumption,'' said Mr Yamamoto, who is also in charge of Mitsui operations in the GMS. Vietnam and Cambodia are also being studied.
Unlike manufacturers in other sectors such as automobiles and electronics, most Japanese food companies have focused on doing business at home despite their capacity to expand abroad, he said.
''Now it's time for the Japanese food industry to change and come to the world market. This is the area we are looking at,'' said Mr Yamamoto.
''After the sharp increase of oil and steel prices, I think food prices have such a tendency to rise, starting with rice, of which Thailand is the world's number one exporter.''
Given Thailand's abundance of raw materials, Mr Yamamoto said it had the potential to enlarge its presence in the global food business.
''What needs to be done for Thailand is increasing the productivity, food safety and trading ability in the world market,'' he said. ''Our team has worked on investment locations and potential local partners in Thailand.''
In its 100 years in Thailand, Mitsui's only food business has been sugar production. Its two local mills export sugar to Asian markets including Japan, Europe and the Middle East.
''Our new food project is not only looking at the domestic Thai market but also exporting Thai-made food to overseas market,'' Mr Yamamoto said.
But he suggested the government not prolong its price-control strategy. ''To control prices in the short term to help the consumers is fine, but they shouldn't prolong this strategy. If the operations are not profitable, manufacturers have a tendency to cut production.''
Mitsui operates 100 joint ventures in Thailand with total turnover of 100 billion baht forecast for the fiscal year starting this month.
About a quarter of its sales were generated from the iron and steel business, 15% from chemicals, 10% each from infrastructure and food, with the rest from consumer services, such as IT and telecoms, and logistics, he said.
Mitsui is also looking at possibly expanding its infrastructure businesses, which include power and water supply.
''We are considering investing in ... new independent power producer projects, in addition to supplying parts and equipment to power plants as we have done in the past,'' said Mr Yamamoto.
1 comment:
japan, cambodia has more fish in its waters than thailand and vietnam combined. also, agriculture has a huge, huge potential in cambodia as well as providing raw materials to food factories across the globe. i know japan like to eat fish too like cambodia, so please look seriously at cambodia for business investment as well in this field. thank you.
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