Investments in Thailand up by 20 per cent

This is more than 20 per cent higher than last year’s total investment value, suggesting confidence that the Thai economy will recover this year even though the global economy still faces risks, including the unpredictable effects of the new US administration’s trade policies.
Of the state enterprises, PTT has the largest investment budget of Bt83.66 billion for both domestic and overseas projects – about Bt45.79 billion of the total will be invested in Thailand. This is part of its fiveyear (201721) investฌment plan worth a total of Bt338.85 bilฌlion.
The plan emphasises the extension of investment in PTT’s infrastructure and oil businesses, including naturalgas pipelines, service stations and facilฌities for imported liquefied natural gas. 
PTT president and chief executive officer Tevin Vongvanich said that according to the fiveyear plan, the energy giant would invest Bt102.28 bilฌlion next year, Bt60.49 billion in 2019, Bt34.33 billion in 2020 and Bt58.09 billion in 2021. 
He said that throughout the period, PTT would invest in line with its three key strategies: the establishment of energy security, for which Bt186.52 bilฌlion has been earmarked; the creation of added value, at a cost of Bt150.67 bilฌlion; and environmental friendliness, for which Bt1.65 billion is being alloฌcated.
Meanwhile, Siam Cement Group has set aside an investment budget of up to Bt70 billion this year for both its domesฌtic and overseas operations, especially in Asean countries whose economies were growing strongly.
“Our investment this year is higher than last year, which was only Bt30 bilฌlion, because our planned investment in the Vietnamese petrochemical industry was delayed until this year,” SCG president and CEO Roongrote Rangsiyopash said recently.
With its aggressive investment plan, the group expects revenue growth of 510 per cent this year amid signs that the economy is recovering, especially as the government kicks off major investฌments in infrastructure projects, he said.
Last year, in the group’s unaudited operating results, SCG reported sales revenue of Bt423.44 billion, down by 4 per cent from 2015, while net profit was Bt56.08 billion, an increase of 24 per cent.
Central Group also plans to invest Bt45.5 billion this year on expanding its property portfolio, mainly with six shopฌping malls, five department stores, four hotels and three condominiums.
The group targets ramping up sales by 14.9 per cent to Bt382.2 billion this year after boosting sales 17.2 per cent to Bt332.7 billion and investing Bt39 bilฌlion last year, especially on its property projects.
Better economy predicted
About 70 per cent of Central Group’s capital expenditure this year will go to new projects, with the rest allocated to the renovation of existing malls, includฌing CentralPlaza Rama 3, CentralWorld, the “Open House” area on the sixth floor of the Central Embassy complex and La Rinascente department store in Turin, Italy, CEO Tos Chirathivat said recentฌly.
He said the largest expansion ever undertaken by the company was in view of the better economic situation proฌjected for this year as driven by the govฌernment’s campaigns launched to stimฌulate the economy, and its investments in many infrastructure projects, such as the Eastern Economic Corridor, espeฌcially the construction of at highspeed rail route from Bangkok to Pattaya and Rayong. 
Such infrastructure projects will help whip up economic activities and attract industries to the area, he said.
Meanwhile, Thailand’s 45 state enterฌprises plan to invest Bt358.89 billion this year to help the economy grow by 34 per cent, Ekeniti Nitithanprapa, directorgeneral of the Finance Ministry’s State Enterprise Policy Office, said recently.
Ekeniti said Sepo was confident that all 45 state enterprises would speed up their investments in line with the govฌernment policy to achieve growth in gross domestic product of between 3 and 4 per cent this year.
Meanwhile, BOI secretarygeneral Hirunya Suchinai said the value of appliฌcations for BOI privileges surged to Bt584.35 billion last year, beating the target of Bt550 billion and lending hope that this year will pass Bt600 billion.
Last year saw applications for 1,546 projects, of which 70 per cent were approved. Of those approved projects, 33 per cent have started investment procedures.