The BOI revealed that the number of applications for investment promotion in the first 9 months of 2024 continued to grow, both in number of projects and investment, with a total of 2,195 projects, with an investment of over 720 billion baht, an increase of 42%, led by new target industries including semiconductors and advanced electronics, digital, electric vehicles, and renewable energy. Singapore ranked first in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI), followed by China and Hong Kong, as a result of aggressive investment attraction amid the global production base relocation trend, supporting investment figures in 2024 to reach a 10-year high.
Mr. Narit Therdsathirasak, Secretary-General of the Board of Investment (BOI), revealed that during the first 9 months of this year (January – September 2024), the number of investment promotion applications has been continuously increasing, both in terms of project and investment, with 2,195 projects, an increase of 46 percent compared to the same period last year
, with a total investment value of 722,528 million baht, an increase of 42 percent compared to the same period last year, which is the highest investment amount in 10 years, reflecting Thailand’s potential and good economic fundamentals, as well as investors’ confidence in government policies and supportive measures, as well as the government and BOI’s proactive investment attraction, which has led to large-scale investment projects in many new industries, such as semiconductors and electronic circuit boards, large data centers, electric vehicles and parts, and renewable energy. In addition, the government is accelerating the development of the ecosystem and factors that will affect investment during this important period of global production base relocation, such as developing human resources to have skills to support new technologies, a mechanism to procure clean energy at a reasonable price, areas to support new industries, and improving regulations to facilitate investment, etc.
The top 5 target industri
es with the highest investment value are electronics and electrical appliances worth 183,444 million baht, followed by digital worth 94,197 million baht, automotive and parts worth 67,849 million baht, agriculture and food processing worth 52,990 million baht, petrochemicals and chemicals worth 34,341 million baht. Businesses with high investment and in industries that are important for economic restructuring include:
Data Center business, 8 projects, total investment of 92,764 million baht, with investment from major companies from America, Australia, China, Hong Kong and India.
Advanced electronics manufacturing business, including wafer manufacturing, electronic design,
semiconductor and integrated circuit assembly and testing, totaling 15 projects, total investment of 19,856 million baht.
55 projects of PCB and PCB raw material manufacturing business, total investment of 61,302 million baht
Smart electronic device and smart electrical appliance manufacturing business, 13 projects, total investment of
38,973 million baht
Machinery and equipment manufacturing business, automation systems and high-precision machinery, 117 projects, total investment of 30,515 million baht
Renewable energy power generation business, 351 projects, total investment 85,369 million baht
Foreign direct investment (FDI) continues to expand. There were 1,449 projects applying for promotion, an increase of 66 percent, with a total investment of 546,617 million baht, an increase of 38 percent. The top 5 countries/economic zones with the highest value of application for promotion were Singapore at 180,838 million baht, China at 114,067 million baht, Hong Kong at 68,203 million baht, Taiwan at 44,586 million baht, and Japan at 35,469 million baht. Most of the increase in Singapore’s investment value was from Chinese and American parent companies in the electronics and data center industries bringing subsidiaries established in Singapore to invest in Thailand.
In terms of area, the majority of investment was in the Eastern region at 4
08,737 million baht, followed by the Central region at 220,708 million baht, the Northern region at 35,452 million baht, the Southern region at 25,039 million baht, the Northeastern region at 23,777 million baht, and the Western region at 8,812 million baht, respectively.
In addition, the application for promotion under the Smart and Sustainable Industry measure, which is an important measure to support existing entrepreneurs to adjust themselves to increase production efficiency, in the first 9 months of this year, there were 287 applications for promotion, with a total investment of 27,318 million baht, most of which were investments in energy saving and renewable energy use, followed by machinery modification and the introduction of automation in the production line. As for the issuance of promotion cards, in the first 9 months of this year, there were 2,072 projects, an increase of 59 percent compared to the same period last year, with an investment of 672,165 million baht, an increase of 101 percent com
pared to the same period last year. The issuance of promotion cards is the step closest to actual investment. Normally, companies will start investing within 1-3 years after issuing a promotion card.
‘The investment direction from the end of this year to next year still shows a tendency to grow. However, what the BOI prioritizes more than the investment amount is the quality of the project and the benefits that Thai people will receive. Now is an important time for Thailand to create new industrial bases to lead to economic restructuring, help build on the existing industrial base to be stable, create value from modern technology, create jobs, and create business opportunities for Thai entrepreneurs. The projects approved by the BOI in the first 9 months of 2024 will employ more than 170,000 Thai personnel, will use approximately 800 billion baht of raw materials and parts in the country per year, and will increase the country’s export value by more than 2 trillion baht per year,’ said Mr. Narit.
Source: T
hai News Agency
