US firms keen to diversify supply chains, 'supercharge' Thai investments, says US commerce secretary

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand is a top priority for U.S. multinational firms looking to diversify supply chains, and they are ready to "supercharge" investments into the country, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Wednesday.

Speaking at an event in Bangkok, Raimondo said areas like electric vehicles, semiconductors and digital sectors were of particular interest.

"As U.S. multinationals look to diversify their supply chains, Thailand is increasingly a place that comes to the top of the list," Raimondo said.

"Right now, not only do we not produce enough semiconductors... Production of semiconductors is dangerously concentrated in one or two countries in the world. So we're all in this together."

She also said the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework was seeing "great" progress, with agreements reached on supply chains, decarbonisation, infrastructure and good governance.

Raimondo said Thailand and other Indo-Pacific countries stood to gain from the framework and would be prioritised for semiconductors investments.

Raimondo visited the Philippines earlier this week, during which she said U.S. companies were set to announce investments amounting to more than $1 billion in the country, a staunch U.S. ally. The investments will span areas like solar energy, electric vehicles and digitisation, she said.

(Reporting by Devjyot Ghoshal; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor)