BANGKOK, May 16 – The number of foreign direct investment (FDI) projects applying for investment promotions for January-April reached 407 with a total investment value of Bt155.4 billion, according to Thailand’s Board of Investment (BOI) adviser Hiranya Sujinai.
She said the number of projects rose 21 per cent year-on-year from 336, while the investment value grew 44 per cent from Bt108 billion.
Ms Hiranya noted foreign direct investment (FDI) promotions during the first four months were mainly (59 per cent) businesses already invested in Thailand wanting to expand their holdings, counting for 240 projects with an investment value of Bt113 billion. There were 167 new projects seeking promotion with an investment value of Bt42 billion.
Businesses with the highest investment value included electronic products and electrical appliances with 94 projects valued at Bt51 billion; vehicle manufacturing, machinery and metals with 131 projects and value of Bt37.3 billion; chemical products, paper and plastic with 60 projects and investment value of Bt22.1 billion; service and public utilities with 72 projects and investment value of Bt17.6 billion; and processed agricultural products with 18 projects and a value of Bt13.4 billion, respectively.
Japanese investors remained the top group of players in terms of the number of projects and investment value. The number of Japanese projects seeking investment promotions reached 228 with an investment value of Bt93 billion.
Malaysian investors ranked second, seeking 12 promotions valued at Bt10.7 billion, while American investors came third with 17 projects having an investment value of Bt9.1 billion.
Investment from the Netherlands ranked fourth, with 11 applications valued at Bt9.8 billion.
Investors from Hong Kong came last with nine applications valued at Bt5.4 billion.
Ms Hiranya said such investment values in all sizes of businesses reflected both Thailand’s potential and investors’ high confidence on investing in the country, which she believed would help push the investment outlook to Bt600 billion as targeted.
She added BOI recently welcomed more than 20 groups of foreign investors from Indonesia, China, South Korea, Sweden, and Poland and other countries to seeking advice on BOI investment promotions and channels.
