Investment/BoI investment applications

Chatrudee Theparat

Investment applications in Thailand in the first quarter of 2024 increased by 31% to 228.20 billion baht in value, with 724 projects, the Board of Investment (BoI) said.

Electronics industry led its number, followed by automotive and parts, petrochemicals and chemicals. For foreign direct investment (FDI), Singapore topped the rank, followed by China and Hong Kong, reflecting the potential of Thailand to get ready to move forward into the golden year of investment.

Narit Therdsteerasukdi

Narit Therdsteerasukdi, BOI's secretary general, said that the investment in Thailand has showed a rising trend and continues to grow in the first quarter. Investment increased in areas ranging from application number, approval and issued certificate projects, as well as the rising number of projects and investment funds.

Application projects totaled 742, up by 94 %, when compared to the same period last year. Total investment was valued at 228.20 billion baht, an increase of by 31 %, reflecting Thailand's potential and investor confidence.

“The rising trend is as a result of the government in moving forward policy to attract investment from leading companies around the world, and continuously solving trade and investment obstacles. The announcement of measures to promote investment in various fields by the BoI, is also driven by the production relocation trend in a bid to reduce the risks from geopolitical conflict,” Mr Narit said.

There are also new technologies following the global trend such as electric vehicles and parts, semiconductor and electronic circuit boards, renewable energy and data centers to support AI expansion and digital transformation.

The highest investment value among the investment applications was electronics and electrical appliances with 77.19 billion baht, followed by automotive vehicles and parts 21,32 billion baht, petrochemicals and chemicals 17.67 billion baht, digital 17.49 billion baht, agriculture and food processing 13.27 billion baht, respectively.

For the electronics industry of the highest value, most of the investment was spent in the producing printed circuit boards (PCB), manufacturing upstream semiconductors (wafer fabrication) of silicon carbide for power electronics, and smart electronic and electrical appliances.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) continues to expand. There were 460 projects in the first quarter of this year, an increase of 130 %, with a total investment value of 169.32 billion baht, an increase of 16 %.

Among the top 5 of the highest value of countries, Singapore led the number with 42.53 billion baht, followed by China with 34.67 billion baht, Hong Kong with 26.57 billion baht, 19.96 billion baht of Taiwan, and 17.24 billion baht of Australia, respectively.

In term of geographical areas in the investment applications, the central region topped the rank with 97.65 billion baht, followed by the eastern region of 95.11 billion baht, the northern region of 17.66 billion baht, northeast region of 7.84 billion baht, southern region of 7.04 billion baht, and western region of 2.88 billion baht, respectively.

For approved projects during the period, there were 785 projects with a total investment of 254.92 billion baht, an increase of by 6 %. The agency projected that it would increase the export value by more than 600 billion baht annually. Domestic raw materials would be used approximately 240 billion baht annually, accounting for about 50 % of the total value of raw materials, and also creating 50,000 Thai jobs.

The actual investment also increased significantly, with a total of 647 projects with 256.93 billion baht, an increase of 107 %.

“This timing is important and is a golden opportunity for Thailand in attracting industrial investment, new goals to lay the foundation of the Thai economy in the long term. We believe that Thailand has the potential to become a regional investment center because it is outstanding in different aspects, especially infrastructure, electrical stability and clean energy readiness, strong supply chain, and good personnel environment. Supportive factors also give Thailand to have more competitive advantages are about information and process which make the entry of foreign workers even easier, as well as high living standard for foreign executives and experts, and government’s support measures.” Mr Narit said.