| Reuters January 17, 2007 SINGAPORE By Koh Gui Qing A SINGAPORE government official said that a diplomatic row with Thailand and changes to Thai foreign ownership laws has caused uncertainty for Singapore investors, some of whom are reviewing planned investments. Chong Lit Cheong, chief executive of trade agency International Enterprise Singapore, said that some Singaporeans were taking a wait-and-see attitude on new investments in Thailand. "You've got to be clear what is the definition of foreign ownership -- whether it is equity share ownership or voting rights," Chong told Reuters, adding that investors in Japan, Australia, the United States and Europe had the same concerns. Last week, Thailand's military government ordered foreigners to give up control of some businesses in Thailand in two years, in a further blow to investors already reeling from the central bank's decision to impose capital controls. The new rule limits many foreign investors to holding no more than 50 percent of shares or voting rights in Thai companies. This week, relations between Thailand and Singapore worsened after Thailand's ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra visited the city-state and met with the deputy prime minister. But Chong said business and trade between the two countries was, so far, being conducted as usual. "We don't suspect any hiccups because things are still operating," he said. "It's not as though there is a logistics cut-off anywhere or that products are not moving." Disk drive components were still moving from Thailand to Singapore for assembly while Singapore-made auto parts were still flowing to Thailand, he said. He said that the new Thai government was "quite pro business in
terms of facilitating and making sure that the recent coup is not affecting
businesses." |
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