Foreign firms plan to maintain or expand investment in Kingdom, survey finds
Most foreign investors in Thailand are bullish on the outlook of their operations here, according to a survey by the Board of Investment.
About 63 per cent of foreign companies plan to maintain their investment through next year, while 34 per cent plan to expand.
Chokedee Kaewsang, deputy secretary-general of the BOI, said yesterday that among the investors planning expansion were those from Japan, China and Europe.
No foreign investor indicated a plan to move out of the country, he said.
The survey on foreign-investor confidence also showed that the efficiency of support industries and the abundance of raw materials were the top reasons encouraging these companies to maintain or expand their businesses. Other positive factors were the infrastructure and the tax privileges from the BOI.
Compared with other Asean nations, Thailand has an advantage as a manufacturing hub. Thailand was scored 3.64 out of 5, second only to Singapore’s 3.79.
These investors also expected an improvement in revenue and profits from operations in Thailand through next year.
About 13.6 per cent of foreign companies here are interested in or planning to invest in other countries, chiefly Indonesia, Myanmar and Malaysia.
The survey was jointly conducted by the BOI and consultancy Bryan Cave (Thailand) from March to May on 500 foreign investors in Thailand.
