New business registration in EEC drops almost 16%
Registration of new businesses in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) fell by 15.85 per cent in 2020 from a year earlier, the Department of Business Development reports.
A total of 6,104 businesses were registered last year in the EEC, which covers the three eastern provinces of Chachoengsao, Chonburi and Rayong.
“New EEC businesses in 2020 registered combined capital of Bt17.53 billion, a fall of 34.99 per cent from the previous year,” said department director-general Thossapol Thangsubutr. “Chonburi saw the highest number of new businesses registered with 4,294, or 70.34 per cent of total new businesses in the EEC.”
As of December 31, 2020, the EEC was home to 72,629 businesses with combined registered capital of Bt1.97 trillion. Of these, 52,798 (72.7 per cent) are located in Chonburi, 13,939 (19.19 per cent) are in Rayong and 5,892 (8.11 per cent) are in Chachoengsao.
Most of the new businesses in 2020 are in the service sector (60.65 per cent), followed by retail and wholesale (24.17 per cent) and manufacturing (15.18 per cent).
“Foreign companies account for 40.97 per cent of total capital in the EEC, most coming from Japan (47.36 per cent), followed by China (11.41 per cent) and Singapore (5.39 per cent),” added Thossapol. “Industries with the highest foreign investment are automotive parts (Bt77.54 billion), aluminium products (Bt38.72 billion) and tyres and inner tubes (Bt31.79 billion).”