CP: Turn Phuket into finance hub | Bangkok Post: business

INVESTMENT

The government should study the pros and cons of developing Phuket as an Asean financial hub along the lines of Singapore in order to enhance Thailand's attractiveness for trade and investment, experts said yesterday.

Sumeth Laomoraphorn, the chief executive of CP Intertrade Co, the CP Group's rice trading arm, said this should be done in parallel with enhancing the province's international tourism potential by investing in overhauling the IT infrastructure and lowering the corporate income tax rate to 10% from 30%.

This would help to persuade financial firms and funds to register in Phuket and use it as a base for Southeast Asian operations, he said. The province could be designated a special economic zone.