SET-listed Amata Corporation Plc, an industrial estate developer and operator, expects investments in Thailand to recover in the second half of this year, driving up land sales on its industrial estates towards a 1,000-rai target.
The bright prospects stem mainly from the reopening of the country and easing of measures against the Covid-19 pandemic, said Viboon Kromadit, executive director and chief marketing officer of Amata.
"Amata City Chonburi and Amata Rayong will attract both foreign and local investors who already visited the sites to gather first-hand information in the first and second quarters of this year," he said.
This will pave the way for their decision to buy the land in the third and fourth quarters which are viewed as the high season for land purchases in industrial estates, said Mr Viboon.
He expects most prospective investors to be export companies. At present, 70-80% of manufacturers at Amata's industrial estates are exporters.
"The company believes the pandemic will not seriously affect the economy after the reopening of the country. The country must learn to live with the pandemic," he said.
Amata also believes the zero-Covid policy in China, which usually leads to strict lockdown measures in cities where fresh outbreaks are found, will cause some investors to buy industrial land in Thailand.
The company so far has industrial estate development projects in Thailand, Vietnam and Laos. In Thailand, Amata is developing 10,000 rai of industrial land in Amata City Rayong and Amata City Chonburi in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).
The EEC, which covers parts of Chon Buri, Rayong and Chachoengsao, will be developed into a high-tech industrial hub which focuses on 12 targeted S-curve industries, including new-generation cars and medical and wellness tourism.
Amata plans to invite multinational firms and authorities from China, Japan and Singapore to invest in the Amata Smart and Eco City scheme and help publicise this scheme.
Amata is pushing ahead with its smart city project in Chon Buri. The firm completed a feasibility study with Japan's Yokohama City, one of the world's most successful smart cities.