BOI welcomes 31% growth in new investment during the first 4 months of 2011
Total investment value reaches Bt170 billion, many big projects continue to expand investment
The Board of Investment announced significant growth in investment during the first four months of this year with 53 per cent growth in project numbers and 31 per cent growth in investment value. Medium to big projects continued to make major expansions, indicating that foreign investment in Thailand, especially from Japan, remains strong.
Accord to Dr. Atchaka Sibunruang, Secretary General of the Board of Investment (BOI), the number of applications for investment incentives from January through April 2011 have grown in terms of both in project number and investment value. A total of 582 projects applied for promotional incentives, representing 53 per cent growth year on year. Investment value during the same period was Bt170.1 billion, a 31 per cent increase over the same period last year, which saw investment value of Bt129.5 billion.
Top industries attracting the most investment were metal products, machinery and transport equipment projects with 148 projects and a Bt50.3 billion total investment value; public utilities and services with 131 projects and Bt37.7 billion; and chemicals, paper and plastic 73 projects with Bt32.9 billion investment value. Most of these investment projects have been medium to large in scale with investment values between Bt0.2 and 1 billion. These larger investments accounted for 169 projects of the total and Bt148.8 billion out of the total investment value.
"We see a large variety of businesses making investments in Thailand and there are many medium to large-sized projects. This reflects investors? strong confidence in Thailand and its potential as a distribution hub for export to the global market,? said Dr. Sibunruang.
Despite the massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan, which seriously affected the Japanes industrial sector, Japanese investment in Thailand continued to expand. In April 2011, a number of Japanese companies expanded investment in the country. Among them were AGC Automotive (Thailand) Co Ltd, which expanded its automotive glass production project with a Bt0.759 billion investment, and Siam Fukoku Co Ltd, which expanded its rain wiper production facility with a Bt854 million investment.
Investment projects from other countries include a Taiwanese-Singaporean joint venture, CalComp Electronics (Thailand) Public Co Ltd, for an electronic goods production facility expansion project worth Bt1.962 billion; and Inergy Automotive Systems (Thailand) Co Ltd from France, which expanded its plastic oil tank for vehicle production business with a Bt0.441 billion investment.
Source : BOI
