The Board of Investment (BoI) has reported a 31.7% increase in foreign investment applications in the first four months of 2010, worth 53 billion THB in total.
BoI Secretary-General, Dr Atchaka Sibunruang, stated that the foreign direct investment (FDI) from January to April this year indicated foreigners’ firm interest in investing in Thailand. She elaborated that 245 foreign projects had filed their investment promotion applications, increasing by 31.7% year-on-year.
Dr Atchaka pointed out that the accumulated investment value of the FDI projects in the first four months grew 146% to 53.30 billion THB from 21.67 billion THB of the same period last year. Of the 245 projects, 130 are new ones with a value of 24.51 billion THB while the other 115 are expansion projects worth 28.78 billion THB.
The highest number of foreign investors submitting their applications is in the metal product, machinery and transport equipment businesses with 67 projects worth 16.91 billion THB, followed by the service and utility businesses with 57 projects worth 12.69 billion THB, and the electronic and electrical appliance businesses with 49 projects worth 8.4 billion THB.
The Japanese investors handed in the most investment applications with a total of 99 projects worth 25.61 billion THB, increasing by 152% from last year. The Singaporeans came in second with 25 projects worth 6.89 billion THB, followed by the Chinese with 9 projects valued at 6.44 billion THB.
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