BANGKOK: AIA Thailand will invest more in office buildings here to increase its property investment to 3.5% of its portfolio in the next five years. The insurance company aims to have an additional 100,000 square metres of office space by 2020 in a show of confidence in Thailand’s economic fundamentals.
Chief investment officer Sukkawat Prasurtying said office buildings were the best long-term investment choice in Bangkok. The vacancy rate for office space tends to fall while other recurring-income assets such as hotels and serviced apartments are in an oversupply.
According to property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle (Thailand), a lack of high-grade office space in Bangkok in the last quarter of 2015 sent rents rising by more than 2.6% from the previous quarter — the highest increase in Southeast Asia.
“We are looking for a land plot in prime locations to develop an office building but it’s difficult to find one to suit our investment policy as the land price has soared to more than 2 million baht per square wah,” Mr Sukkawat said.
