BANGKOK May 18 - Thailand's developer Amata VN Pcl said on Wednesday it planned to spend $200 million this year on developing two industrial estates in Vietnam to meet robust demand for investments from foreign investors.

The two sites are Amata City Bien Hoa, its first project in Vietnam and a high technology industrial park called Amata City Long Thanh near Ho Chi Minh City.

Amata VN, one of top three foreign-owned industrial park developers in Vietnam, has spent $60 million on Bien Hoa, chief executive officer Somhatai Panichewa told reporters.

The company has signed contracts to sell 7.4 hectares of land in the first quarter, or 30 percent of this year's target, she said.

The company received a licence in 2015 to develop the second estate Long Thanh on 410 hectares of land, which is expected to be ready for investors in 2017, she said.

Vietnam is one of major investment destinations in Southeast Asia with foreign direct investments of $4 billion in the first three months of 2016 and rising to $5 billion in April, the Thai firm said refering to data from the Vietnam government.

Amata VN also applied for another two licences to develop two projects and is expected to receive the licences in the third quarter, the company has said.

In a separate development, Siam Commercial Bank officially opened its branch in Ho Chi Minh City this week, the second Thai bank operating in Vietnam, Thailand's third-largest lender said in a statement on Wednesday.

SCB received a 99-year license from the State Bank of Vietnam, it said. ($1 = 35.6000 baht)