Thailand attracts higher foreign direct investment
Thailand enjoyed a higher profile among foreign investors, attracting an increase in foreign direct investment during the first four months of this year, according to the Board of Investment.
An investment adviser for Thailand's Board of Investment or BoI, Hiranya Sujinai, said that during the period, FDI increased from the same period last year, reflecting through 407 investment applications with combined value of Bt155.5 billion. That represented the 21 per cent and 44 per cent increase, respectively, in terms of application numbers and investment size.
In the same period last year, the BoI received 336 investment applications with combined investment of Bt108.03 billion.
Hiranya said that of total 240 applications or 59 per cent are seeking investment incentives for expansion phases. These require an investment of Bt113 billion.
The remaining 167 applications with Bt42.39 billion are earmarked for new investment projects.
By country, Japan controlled the biggest chunk of the new investment, at Bt93 billion for 228 projects; followed by Malaysia, Bt10.7 billion for 12 projects; the US, Bt9 billion for 17 projects; the Netherlands, Bt9.8 billion for 11 projects; and Hong Kong, Bt5.5 billion for 9 projects.
