
SET-listed industrial developer Amata Corporation celebrates 50 years in business, with an aim to gain momentum in its well-established, stringent environmental standards and enable people employed on-site to achieve a positive work-life balance.
Chairman and acting chief executive Vikrom Kromadit said Amata's history represents successful efforts to provide a good quality of life through the provision of a healthy work environment for entrepreneurs and workers based at its industrial estates.
The company, which marks its 50th anniversary on Jan 17, 2025, continues to develop industrial estates in Thailand, Vietnam and Laos, while seeking new business opportunities.
50-YEAR CELEBRATION
Amata's 50 years of conducting business highlights the company's success in expanding industrial land and drawing entrepreneurs across industrial sectors to establish their businesses in its industrial parks.
The company's business operations, especially in Thailand and Vietnam, are making good progress, thanks to decades-long efforts to provide the best services for clients.
The two countries are attracting global manufacturing companies seeking to establish a base in Southeast Asia to weather geopolitical uncertainties.
The story of Amata started in the mid-1970s, when Mr Vikrom, then a young graduate from the Taiwan National University, set forth on an entrepreneurial journey in Thailand. After forays in import-export and business consulting, he entered the industrial estate business.
Amata now manages full-service industrial parks in Thailand and Vietnam that are home to a total of over 1,500 factories and commercial outlets.
"At Amata, our objective is to build the most perfect cities possible, ensuring sustainability and financial stability through careful urban planning, state-of-the-art utilities, and dedicated management," said Mr Vikrom, who will be 72 in March this year.
JOYFUL LIVING
Amata wishes to develop industrial estates where people can live in harmony with the environment while minimising their carbon footprints.
The company vows to adopt technologies that support energy efficiency, promote greater use of renewable energy and develop green areas around factories.
Such sustainable development initiatives will provide a thriving quality of life for people employed at premises within all industrial estates operated by Amata.
"We are offering the best services, notably essential infrastructure and amenities, at our industrial estates in order to keep workers and their families happy," said Mr Vikrom.
On a practical level, the company notes that industrial estates must also be handily located near a main airport, seaport and railway station in order to facilitate transport.
"These factors will make our industrial estates attractive to prospective investors," he said.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Amata is interested in the development of a smart and eco-friendly industrial estate as well as a residential project in Laos.
The company plans to develop 130,000 rai of land in northern Laos.
The area is close to Namor railway station, which is near a land border with China, Vietnam and Thailand. The station is on a rail route that stretches from the Lao capital Vientiane to Kunming in southwestern China.
Amata plans to develop 6,000 rai of industrial land in the first phase under the Oudomxay project to serve a number of industries, notably agribusiness and food processing. The new industrial estate is expected to commence commercial operations towards the end of this year.
The company is also pushing ahead with a prototype residential project, along with the development of its new industrial estate in Oudomxay, a province in northwestern Laos.
The residential project is part of the company's plan to operate a new business in the housing sector, primarily aimed at serving business people and their families while they are working in Amata's industrial estates.
The company chose Oudomxay because it is going to build a new industrial complex there.
"The residential project will be developed at the same time," said Mr Vikrom.
INVESTMENT GROWING
Amata aims to develop new industrial land in Thailand, Laos and Vietnam to serve new foreign investment which is expected to increase in the region.
More investors are likely to expand their businesses into Southeast Asia to avoid the impact of the US-China trade war and geopolitical conflicts, he said.
In Thailand, the company has 15,000 rai of land in its industrial estates to serve new investment projects. Among its well-known industrial parks are Amata City Rayong and Amata City Chon Buri industrial estates.
The majority of foreign companies investing in Amata's industrial estates in Thailand are from Japan, with around 700 factory outlets, followed by China with over 300 factories, followed by other countries, including Taiwan, Singapore, the US and European nations.
The number of Chinese investors keeps increasing as they are expanding businesses in S-curve industries, which include electric vehicle manufacturing and renewable energy.