Why is Manufacturing So Hot in Thailand?

Well I’m going to see firsthand.

I leave tomorrow for a weeklong visit to factories, ports and attend meetings, all of which will explain why so many companies have chosen to manufacture in Thailand.

A few quick facts:

• 40% of the country’s GDP comes from manufacturing
• #1 producer of light pickup trucks globally
• #1 producer of hard disk drives globally
• #2 producer of natural and synthetic rubber globally
• #2 ranking in Southeast Asia for ‘Ease of Doing Business’

The economy has come back from the floods of 2011 as evidenced  by the 3.6% GDP increase in Q4.

And in the past month alone, Honda added a plant to produce small and sub-compact vehicles while Mazda opened a transmission plant. 

So I'm excited to see what is going on.

(Stay tuned as I'll update this blog as I travel the country.)