BANGKOK, 29 March 2012 – A state agency in charge of investment promotion has released its latest report, which may be able to calm worries over the relocation of foreign businesses.
Industry Minister Pongsvas Svastiwat said that the Board of Investment (BOI) has recently approved investment incentives to 11 projects, worth more than 83.8 billion baht.
Mr. Pongsvas said that around 53.8 billion baht, or approximately 64% of total investment, was destined for Pathum Thani and Ayutthaya, two of the flood-hit provinces that are also home to many key industrial estates.
With such statistics, the Industry Minister asserted that both provinces still show high potential as key investment destinations.
For the projects, which have been granted BOI incentives, they are mainly from auto and power generation sectors
Mr. Pongsvas predicts that the total investment incentive applications in 2012 will exceed the initial target of 600 billion baht, after records from the first 2 months of this year showed some 154 billion baht worth of investment has already been approved, with Japanese investors as the number-one players.
The Industry Minister went on to assure that foreign investors will not be relocating to other countries just yet, although some may move their plants to provinces that are not prone to be flooded.
