Foreign investment more than doubles in first half, as BoI gets 758 new projects
Duangjai Asawachintachit, secretary-general of the Board of Investment (BoI), said 758 projects were submitted in the first six months of the year for investment promotion, recording a 7 per cent increase from the same period last year when 707 projects were submitted.
Of the projects seeking investment, 57 per cent are industrial companies valued at a total of Bt131 billion. The highest number of applicants are electrical appliance manufacturers, followed by carmakers, agriculture and food-processing businesses.
Meanwhile, in the first half of the year, foreign investors have spent Bt147 billion on 468 projects, 109 per cent more than Bt70 billion invested in the same period last year.
Japanese investors top the list with Bt42 billion, followed by China at Bt24 billion, Switzerland at Bt11 billion, Singapore Bt7.6 billion, and Hong Kong Bt7.3 billion.
Duangjai said BoI’s investment promotion was in line with the Thailand 4.0 investment plan. The board has approved investment promotion for 717 projects, which will create 43,878 jobs and promote the use of local materials worth Bt236 billion and earn up to Bt337 billion in exports.
