Thai floods hit 300 Japanese firms

Tuesday October 18, 2011
Reuters

BANGKOK: At least 300 Japanese companies have been affected by flooding in Thailand and it could be months before all are fully up and running again, according to the local head of the Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro).

Floods have forced a series of huge industrial estates to close, the latest being the Nava Nakorn Industrial Zone in Pathum Thani province north of Bangkok, which has more than 270 plants employing 270,000 workers.

That was seriously hampering the work of Japanese companies that had made Thailand their manufacturing and export base for South-East Asia, Setsuo Iuchi, the president of Jetro Thailand, said.

“More than 300 Japanese companies have suffered from the floods directly on five industrial estates,” Iuchi said.

“The supply chain for auto parts, parts from Thailand to other factories in Thailand as well as from Thailand to other part of the world, have been affected by the suspension of production,” he said.

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