PUBLISHED : 21 Aug 2023 at 04:30
Foreign investment in the first seven months of this year jumped by 17% to 58.9 billion baht, deputy government spokeswoman Rachada Dhnadirek said yesterday.
The five countries with the most investors were Japan, with 94 investors who put in 19.89 billion baht, the US (67) with investments of 3 billion baht, Singapore (61) worth 12.92 billion baht, China (28) worth 11.55 billion baht and Germany (16) with investment totalling 1.29 billion baht.
Foreign investment created employment for 3,594 Thai nationals, an increase of 9% for the period, according to Ms Rachada.
In July alone, applications were approved for 51 foreign investors to bring in 10 billion baht to various industries, she said, adding this led to employment of 372 Thais.
A total of 73 foreign investors expressed an interest in investing in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) during January-July, about 19% of the total number of foreign investors, she said.
The investment value in the EEC was 12.34 billion baht, about 21% of total investment value, according to Ms Rachada.
Japan topped the list with value of 5.37 billion baht, followed by China with investment value of 893 million baht, South Korea with investment worth 287 million baht.
The 25 others from various countries had combined investment value of 5.78 billion baht.
She said the businesses they invested in included consulting in management and manufacturing, engineering and technical services, subcontracting services for manufacturing machines, machine parts and vehicle parts.
Ms Rachada said the government’s policy to ease foreign investment was a key factor in attracting more investors to the country.
In addition to generating revenue and creating jobs, foreign investment also led to transfer of knowledge and technology including data analysis for web development and marketing and testing of automobiles and auto parts for research and development, she said.
The government forecast a minimum of 100 billion baht in foreign investment this year.
Last year, investments by foreign investors soared by 56% to 129 billion baht in value, with Japan topping the list in terms of budget to develop businesses in Thailand.