Part 2 : Thailand, the Champion of Green Industries
On Feb. 19 the Asian Wall Street Journal's front page carried a concise, exclamatory headline shouting "18.9 Percent." That figure stood for Thailand's just announced economic growth rate for the fourth quarter of 2012. Last year the country's economic growth exceeded forecasts for four consecutive quarters, resulting in an annual GDP growth rate of 6.4 percent and a 97-percent increase in foreign direct investment (FDI). In terms of GDP and FDI growth, Thailand now holds the ASEAN crown.
Thailand's attractiveness as an investment destination was not dented at all by the disastrous floods of 2011, as domestic demand remained strong and industrial restructuring continued unaffected.
The success of Thailand's economic transformation could be attributed to a nose for green business opportunities, a Midas touch that turns anything eco-friendly into gold.
Three of the industries identified by Thailand as priority industries are related to green, eco-friendly fields of business: green vehicles, green energies, and green agriculture (food). They make for the three most sparkling jewels in Thailand's crown.
Green Jewel No. 1: Food
Thailand has been called "Asia's granary," and is the world's largest exporter for a number of agricultural and livestock products such as paddy rice, cassava, tropical fruit, tropical flowers and plants, as well as fishery products. The country accounts for US$30 billion of US$200 billion worth of worldwide fish and seafood exports.
Thailand is not satisfied with being just Asia's granary, but has set itself the higher goal of becoming "the kitchen of the world."
Rarely has a country been able to reach as much market dominance with its foodstuffs as Thailand.
American hypermarket chain Costco sources all its shrimp wonton, carved squid, and tail-on tiger shrimp from Thailand. Thai Jasmine rice, Tao Kae Noi crispy seaweed snacks, green and red curry paste, Tom Yum Soup paste – all kinds of Thai spices and condiments such as fish sauce can be found in virtually every supermarket and hypermarket across Taiwan.
Lu Hsin-he, a National Taiwan University student who spent some time in Sweden, noticed that Thai foodstuffs were the only Asian food items readily available in Swedish stores.
It is somewhat hard to imagine that a country with a population of just 60 million people can rank top worldwide in so many areas. And all these top spots are somehow related to food. Thailand boasts the world's largest livestock company and the largest fish cannery.
Aside from American fast food, Thai food can claim to be the foreign cuisine with the highest penetration rate worldwide.
Green Jewel No. 2: Energy
The second green jewel in Thailand's crown is green, renewable energies. Thailand is already Asia's largest producer of renewable energies. Energy from renewable resources accounts for 6.7 percent of the country's energy mix.
It is hard to imagine that rice straw can be used to generate electricity. Large bundles of rice straw are continuously fed into a giant incinerator. The heat of combustion turns water into steam, and the pressurized steam is used to drive a turbine for electricity generation. The remaining ash is recycled for use in fertilizer.
In addition to rice straw, Thailand uses other sources of biomass – such as cassava, wood pulp, sugarcane leaves and bagasse, oil palm frond, woodchips and sawdust – to generate power or make fertilizer. Thailand is a leading producer of all these agricultural crops, which means a never-ending supply of agricultural waste biomass.
The government strongly supports biomass-to-energy projects through tax incentives, direct subsidies and public-private joint ventures. Presently some 440 renewable energy plants are operating or under construction in Thailand.
"We need more in this sector. Investments from Taiwan are very welcome. We are targeting renewable energy ratio to 25 percent by 2020," says Duangjai Asawachintachit, deputy secretary general of the Thailand Board of Investment.
Green Jewel No. 3: Vehicles
The third green jewel in Thailand's crown is green vehicles.
During the severe flooding in 2011, nearly 1,000 factories in seven industrial zones were inundated by floodwaters.
At the time, the international media's verdict on Thailand's future was unanimous: Thailand's economy had been sunk for good, because its two major growth drivers, tourism and foreign investment, had gone under. The tourists had been scared away by the Red Shirt anti-government street protests, while the floods had swept away foreign investors.
But one year after the devastating floods, not one of the some 1,300 companies from Japan, Thailand's largest foreign investor, has pulled out of the country.
Foreign investors are not interested in leaving Thailand, because the country has positioned itself clearly, and business remains lucrative.
In the year of the flood crisis, Japanese investment increased by 86 percent. In the first 11 months of the following year, Japanese investors poured 61 percent more funds into Thailand than during all of 2011. Total FDI inflows also increased 97 percent in 2012 over the previous year.
A closer look at Japanese production and sales in Thailand shows that green vehicles and green appliances almost doubled last year. "These two sectors surely are what Japan investors are focusing on," says Dungjai. "Toyota just opened a 100-thousand-unit ecocar assembly plant."
Under the leadership of the government, Thailand has become Asia's second largest green vehicle R&D center and manufacturer behind Japan. In 2012, almost 700,000 green vehicles rolled off Thai assembly lines. That's more than Taiwan's annual production of 640,000 vehicles of all categories combined.
Thailand produces a broad range of green vehicles including gasoline-electric hybrid cars, battery electric vehicles, natural gas-powered cars, and solar vehicles.
"We urgently need investment by Taiwanese manufacturers of automobile parts and components," laments Dungjai. "We are not able to meet demand for various parts for eco-friendly vehicles, in particular automatic transmissions, storage batteries, regenerative braking systems, electronic stability control systems and car electronics."
In 2011, Thailand ranked 14th worldwide in terms of vehicle output. Originally, the country planned to squeeze into the top ten by 2014. But unexpectedly it reached that target last year, because of soaring demand in Asia and Latin America, reveals Piengjai Kaewsuwan, president of the Thai Automobile Industry Association.
Last year, Thailand's vehicle output jumped to 2.65 million vehicles, a 105-percent increase. About one half of Thai-made vehicles are exported into more than 130 countries around the globe, making Thailand the world's sixth largest automobile exporter.
Aside from being the second largest producer of green vehicles, Thailand surpassed the United States as the largest manufacturer of 1-ton pickup trucks three years ago.
Piengjai points out that the car penetration rate in Southeast Asia stands at just 50 vehicles per 1,000 people. "The Thai auto industry can expect to post rapid double-digit growth for at least another five years," he predicts.
Thailand benefits from its geostrategic location and industrial structure. From a number of regional developments, be it the ASEAN Free Trade Area to be launched in 2015, broader regional cooperation in ASEAN Plus One (China) and ASEAN Plus Three (China, Japan, South Korea) or the political reforms in neighboring Burma, Thailand is consistently emerging as the biggest winner.A big chunk of new Japanese investment in Thailand is due to the country's proximity to the lucrative markets of China, India and Burma, which makes it an ideal production and distribution base. On top of that, domestic economic prospects are "very bright" as well, thanks to Thailand's young, consumption-oriented population of 60 million people.
By Monique Hou
From Taiwan CommonWealth Magazine
Published: March 06, 2013 (No.517)
Translated from the Chinese by Susanne Ganz
撈油元、賺綠金 東盟雙雄馬泰爭鋒 1
撈油元、賺綠金 東盟雙雄馬泰爭鋒 2
绿金选手——泰国
2月19日，《华尔街日报》亚洲版，头版标题出现斗大的“18.9%”那是泰国刚公布的去年第4季经济成长率。连续四季超出预期的成长，让泰国去年交出GDP成长6.4%、外人投资增加97%的漂亮成绩，双双创下东盟第一。
2012年的大水，挡不住泰国强劲内需和产业成功转型，对全球的吸引力。
泰国的转型，总归四个字：点绿成金。
8项优先产业，3项和“绿”有关：绿车、绿能、绿地产业（食品），成为泰国王冠上，最闪耀的三颗绿宝石。
第一颗绿宝石：食品。
泰国素称“亚洲粮仓”，是水稻、木薯、热带水果、热带花卉、水产等，许多农畜产品全球最大出口国。全球水产出口值2000亿美元，泰国便占了300亿。
粮仓之后，泰国的目标升级，要做“世界的厨房”（The Kitchen of the World）。
很少有其它国家的食品，能像泰国食品，独立成柜或自成一区。
很难想像，人口仅6000万的泰国，竟藏着许多世界第一。
而这些第一，都和食物有关。世界最大的畜产公司、世界最大的鱼罐头公司，都是泰国企业。
泰国菜也可说是除了美式速食之外，全世界渗透率最高的异国料理。
第二颗绿宝石：能源。
泰国王冠上的第二颗绿宝石，是绿能。泰国已是亚洲最大的绿能生产国，再生能源占比达6.7%。
很难想像，稻杆可以拿来发电。大捆大捆的稻杆，不断被送进巨大的锅炉燃烧，产生高压热气推动发电，炉灰则被回收作为肥料。
除了稻杆，泰国拿来发电的农作物废料，还有木薯渣、木渣、甘蔗叶和渣、油棕榈叶、木片和木屑。这些农作物，泰国都是名列前茅的产销国，废料源源不绝。
在租税优惠、直接补贴，和以官民合资形式提供资金等，政策强力支持下，泰国已有440座再生能源厂投产或动工。
“我们还需要更多，欢迎大家来投资。2020年，再生能源占比要提高到25%，”泰国投资局副秘书长邓彩（Duangjai Asawachintachit）指出。
第三颗绿宝石：汽车。
2011年，洪水，淹了泰国7个工业区近千家工厂。当时，全球媒体的评论一面倒：泰国这下完了，两大经济命脉的“观光”先被红衫军吓走，接着“外资”被洪水冲走。
一年过去，泰国最大的外资，1300多家日商，没有一家撤出泰国。
定位清楚，效益可期，让外资离不开泰国。
11年，日商投资金额增加86%之后，去年前11个月，日商投资已较11年全球成长61%。整体外人投资，去年也比11年大增17%。
从日商在泰国的产销来看，不难发现，绿色汽车和绿色家电，去年几乎是倍增的。“这的确是日商投资最大的两块，”邓彩指出。“像丰田，才刚刚启用了一座年产10万辆环保车的装配厂。”
在政府主导下，泰国已成为日本以外，亚洲第一大的绿车生产国和研发中心。2012年，泰国绿车产量逼近70万辆。
泰国生产的绿车种类包括，油电混合车、100%电动车、天然气车、太阳能车……等。
“我们很需要台湾汽车零组件厂商，到泰国投资。”尤其是环保车的自动变速箱、蓄电池、再生煞车系统、电子稳定控制系统，和汽车电子等组件，目前是供不应求的，邓彩表示。
2012年，泰国汽车产量世界排名第14，原本计划14年挤进10大。“没想到，因为亚洲和拉丁美洲的需求增加太快，去年就达成了，”泰国汽车业协会主席——丘撤旺（Piengjai Kaewsuwan）说。
去年，泰国汽车产量倍增105%，达265万辆。且一半是外销，是世界第6大汽车出口国，对130多国出口。
除了是东南亚第一大绿车生产国，泰国3年前也已超越美国，变成世界第一大1公吨货卡车的生产国。
丘撒旺说，东南亚有车率每千人还不到50辆，“泰国汽车业两位数的快速成长，至少还有5年光景。”
占地利和产业结构之便，无论东盟在2015年整合为单一自由市场，或东盟加一（中）或加三（中、日、韩），或缅甸开放，泰国都是最大的赢家。
很多日商新增的投资，便利用泰国做为对中、缅及印度产销的基地。加上泰国6000万人口的内需市场，泰国经济前景“很亮”。
光华日报
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