JAPANESE VOICE INVESTMENT FEARS

       The Japanese Chamber of Commerce yesterday expressed its concern about the court injunction on 76 industrial projects, which affects some of its members and could have a wider effect on other projects in Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate.
       Yo Jitsukata, president of the Bangkok-based chamber, said in a statement that some plants in the estate might have to shut down their operations due to a shortage of raw materials to be supplied by some of the suspended projects.
       Among the 76 projects, two belong to Ube Nylon (Thailand) and Siam Mitsui PTA.
       He said that if the dispute were not resolved quickly, it could affect Thailand's inward investment, including that from Japan. This would also pose a threat to the Kingdom's economic recovery as well as the strategy to strengthen Thailand's basic industries.
       Jitsukata added that Japanese investors were concerned about that Japanese investors were concerned about pollution problems and had cooperated with the public sector to ensure economic development went hand in hand with protecting the environment.
       They have also worked with Japanese organisations to address environmental problems in Thailand.
       Meanwhile, Tevin Vongvanich, chief finance officer of PTT, said the company would need to review its five-year investment plan, as some of the investment projects were affected by the injunction-including the sixth gas-separation plant and a natural-gas-separation plant and a natural-gas station.
       PTT plans to invest Bt230 billion during 2009-2013, including Bt148 billion by its subsidiary PTT Exploration and Production. Twenty-five of the 76 suspended projects belong to the group.
       "Some projects are not yet affected in the absence of an official order, but we need to prepare ourselves, as the court is reviewing the injunction and the case against government units. The review of the investment plan will take into account long-term effects on Map Ta Phut, and will provide new investment options if projects in Map Ta Phut are suspended," Tevin said.
       Toyo-Thai Corp, a construction compamy, said work at two projects in Map Ta Phut continued as usual, and the company had realised 80 per cent of the construction value.
       Kasikorn Research Centre yesterday said the government needed to eliminate the environmental hurdles for the 76 projects, because the projects are intended to strengthen Thailand's energy security and reduce imports.