BoI/Investment

Chatrudee Theparat

BoI’s applications in 2023 showed a big growth of 43% to 848 billion baht, driven by ongoing geopolitical issues

The Board of Investment (BOI)’s applications in 2023 reached a five-year high of 848.3 billion baht in combined value (US$ 24 billion), driven by ongoing geopolitical issues.

An increase of 43% from the previous year’s adjusted number, led by large foreign investments in the five priority sectors in the BOI’s new Investment Promotion Strategy, which represented more than half of the combined pledges.

The relocation trend in key industrial sectors, driven by ongoing geopolitical issues and the government’s investment policy, accelerated a huge growth of Thailand’s foreign direct investment (FDI) to 663.2 billion baht, representing a 72% increase in the FDI value compared to 2022.

Mr. Narit Therdsteerasukdi

“Thailand’s potential and readiness, together with the new 5-year investment promotion strategy and measures, have attracted large investment by companies seeking to relocate to a safe and resilient long-term base for their investments. Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin himself, led several investment promotion roadshows, has significantly raised investors’ confidence and put Thailand on the radars of key investment communities,” Narit Therdsteerasukdi, secretary general of the BOI, said.

“Looking forward to 2024, it is predicted that the Thai economy will expand, supported by the expansion of exports and tourism revenue. We also believe investments are likely to grow due to the continued flow of FDI, especially in our priority sectors,” he said.

The total number of applications for investment promotion filed last year by investors, both local and foreign, increased 16% to 2,307 projects, worth a combined 848.3 billion baht investment, up 43% from a revised 591.5 billion baht in 2022. The rise in total value reflects the growing number of large projects, mostly from overseas.

The five priority sectors defined by the new strategy the BOI enacted last year, namely BCG (Bio-Circular-Green), electric vehicles (EVs), smart electronics, digital and creative, together attracted 759 applications, worth a combined 492.5 billion baht of investment, or 58% of the total value of investment pledges.

The year 2023 saw foreign investors file a total of 1,394 applications for investment promotion, an increase of 38% from the previous year, and an increase of 72% in combined investment value to 663.24 million baht, due to a significant number of large projects.

Investment applications from China came first in the ranking of FDI sources by investment value, with 430 projects worth a combined investment of 159.39 billion baht, or 24% of the total value of FDI applications in the period, boosted by Chinese investments in the electronics industry, and the automotive supply chain, including EVs.

Singapore came in second with 194 projects worth a combined 123.39 billion baht of investment, boosted by large projects applications from Singapore-based affiliates of international companies in sectors including solar cells and electronics.

Investments from the U.S. ranked third with 40 projects worth a combined 83.95 billion baht, followed by Japan with 264 projects representing a combined value of 79.15 billion baht, a 60% increase from the previous year, and Taiwan with 54.6 billion baht from a total of 94 projects.

In terms of the regional distribution of investment, the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), Thailand’s prime industrial area comprising Chonburi, Rayong, and Chachoengsao provinces, again led the ranking with 460.5 billion baht worth of investment, accounting for 54% of the total pledges. It was followed by the country’s central region which attracted around 262 billion baht worth of investment, or 31% of the total.

The board meeting, chaired by Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara, Deputy Prime Minister also approved four investment promotion applications worth a combined 29.7 billion baht for projects comprising two data centers, the production of steel wire for the tyre industry, and the production of steam for industrial use.

They included NextDC,a leading Australian data center operator, received approval for a 13.76 billion baht investment in a new hyperscale data center which will be located in Bangkok, CtrlS Datacentres(Thailand) Co, a unit of CtrlSDatacenters, a global data center operator based in India, Xingda Steel Cord (Thailand) Co, TPI Polene Power PCL.