PTT Public Company Limited, is drafting a 20-year investment plan in which it will outline the largest investment in the company’s history, taking it into new areas of the energy industry.

Excerpt from:
PTT draws up 20-year plan for huge investments

A source within Thailand’s largest oil and gas firm said the major investment plan, which would outline PTT’s business direction between next year and 2030, would focus on upstream and downstream sectors, alternative energy and the petrochemical industry. It is also interested in investing in power plants and coal business.

Key risks to the outlook are (i) political uncertainty and (ii) the timing of the withdrawal of fiscal and monetary stimulus. Increased political tensions may have a long-lasting impact on investment, and withdrawal of stimulus (in Thailand and the advanced economies) must be precisely timed to avoid macroeconomic imbalances (including new asset bubbles) while also ensuring that the recovery is on a sufficiently solid footing.

Thailand’s GDP growth remains largely tied to external demand and developments in advanced economies will continue to dominate the path of the economy in the short- and medium-term. The external environment has been relatively more favorable in the past six months as the effects of fiscal and monetary stimulus are felt and inventories in the advanced economies are being replenished, supporting production into the medium term. However, full recovery from the financial crisis and a return to high rates of import demand growth in developed countries is not expected in the near term, as US consumers have to rebuild their balance sheets following a decrease in wealth in the order of US$14 trillion while employment prospects remain weak. As a result, growth rates of high income countries are expected to be subdued at under 2 percent in 2010, implying continued weak demand for Thai exports.