Value of BOI's project approvals in first 5 months

"Most of the approvals during the first five months were for those that applied for investment promotion from late 2014 to early 2015," said Hiranya Sujinai, acting secretary-general of the BOI.

"The BOI gradually gave approval for these projects every week in order to allow business operators to go ahead with their investment and operations as soon as possible.

"This also benefits the country’s economic expansion. And we’re confident that real investment will be seen clearly from the middle of this year to late this year."

The number of investment projects approved in the first five months soared 76 per cent year on year to 1,094. Their total value of Bt391.72 billion was up 680 per cent on the Bt50.23 billion recorded in the same period last year.

Of the approved applications, 261 are services and infrastructure projects worth Bt136.94 billion, 144 are electrical-appliances and electronics projects (Bt67.17 billion), 213 are metals, machinery and vehicle components projects (Bt65.92 billion), 220 are paper projects (Bt61.32 billion), 175 are agro-industry and agricultural-goods projects (Bt29.97 billion), 59 are light-industries projects (Bt16.57 billion), and 22 are projects involving minerals, ceramics or basic metals (Bt13.82 billion).

Of those approved, 63 are large projects with an investment value of more than Bt1 billion each and a combined value of Bt227.68 billion.

In the first five months of the year, there were applications for investment privileges concerning 306 projects worth Bt48.25 billion in total.

Slightly more than half of the new applications fell in the BOI’s "strategic industries" category,

They are natural-rubber products, medical tools and components, enterprise software and digital content, and electricity generation from renewable sources.