EXCLUSIVE: In a report last week from The Economist Corporate Network, Asia’s share of global revenues at non-Asian firms in the global real estate sector was expected to increase from 21.1 percent in 2013 to 33.3 percent in 2018.
Thailand, however, was noted as one country where the investment climate was failing to improve, according to survey respondents.
China remained the top investment destination according to the report, but Indonesia has overtaken India in second place; and executives feel the investment climate is improving across Asia, except for India, Australia and Thailand.
Justin Wood, Southeast Asia Director, for The Economist Corporate Network, told DDproperty.com: "On the political and social front, the current turbulence has been brewing for some time. The troubles have escalated recently, but the warning signs were there earlier. When we rolled out the survey in late November/early December, the signs were already clear.
"With regard to other issues that impact the investment landscape in Thailand, the Thai baht has suffered and been more volatile, thanks to the uncertainty around the pace and impact of tapering of quantitative easing in the U.S.
"More generally, there are concerns around the resilience of economic growth in Thailand.
"A lot of recent growth has been fuelled by debt, some of it government debt, some of it private debt. This engine can’t keep powering the Thai economy."
Wood added that perhaps there are also concerns around the government’s capability to implement projects.
He said: "The government has promised very large infrastructure projects, but these have been very slow to move forward and foreign investors may be becoming exasperated at the slow pace of progress.
"But I think the political turbulence is the biggest issue, but these other issues might also help to explain the data.
To access the report visit: http://ecn.st/ABOS2014
Andrew Batt, International Group Editor of PropertyGuru Group,
wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email andrew@propertyguru.com.sg
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