$40 Million Pipe Venture Wants Better Investment Terms from Thailand.

Byline: Boonsong Kositchotethana

Dec. 7--Thailand may lose the opportunity to become the base for a pipe manufacturing venture worth up to US$40 million unless Thai authorities make the investment environment more conducive, promoters of the project say.

Future Pipe Group would consider investing instead in neighbouring countries such as Malaysia or Australia if it could not be accommodated in Thailand, said Fouad Makhzoumi, chairman of the Middle Eastern company.

He said that he was inclined toward Thailand to establish the venture, estimated to cost $35-40 million initially, to produce pipes and fittings made from reinforced glass and epoxy resins. However, he found incentives to invest here not attractive enough.

Two major concerns of Future Pipe, one of the world's leading pipe and fitting concerns, are what the Lebanese-born executive described as excessive land prices and high import duties on raw materials and machinery.

He said the cost of land in industrial estates in Thailand was about three times that of Malaysia and Australia.

Future Pipe is seeking 25 acres on the Thai eastern seaboard for a plant, which would be the company's first in Asia.