Nine Chinese companies yesterday agreed on 27 July to explore more than 10 billion baht (THB)-worth of investment projects in Thailand with local partners on the first day of the Thai-Chinese Business Forum in Pattaya, reports The Nation.

Among the agreements was Saha Farms, the Kingdom's leading boiled chicken producer and exporter, entered into an Memorandum of Understading with leading investment conglomerate, the New Hope Group, to conduct a feasibility study on setting up a boiled chicken base in Thailand.

Saha Farms president and CEO, Manoonsri Chotitawan, said his company was looking for a partner to complete its new plant in Lop Buri province. The final phase requires THB 7 billion to install 10 new processing lines.

The plant now runs 20 lines capable of dressing 500,000 chickens a day. The expansion would allow the company to double that.

New Hope Group chairman and CEO Liu Younghao said if there were clearer investment promotions and greater benefits of foreign direct investment, his company would double its investment in ASEAN.

The group has poured US$100 million into the Philippines. Its four core businesses are livestock and food, chemicals and energy, property and infrastructure and finance. The group achieved sales of $10 billion last year.

"It's a good time to explore opportunities in Thailand. It makes the group more confident in Thai politics, the economic crisis and the type-A (H1N1) problem," he told The Nation.