480 foreign firms bring over THB100bn to Thailand this year

November 15, 2022

Some 480 foreign companies have set up operations in Thailand in the first 10 months of 2022, bringing over 100 billion baht to the country and marking a 72% increase year on year.

In the same period last year, 446 foreign firms had invested 61.96 billion baht to set up in Thailand.

From January to October, 480 foreign firms were approved under the Foreign Business Act. They invested 106.43 billion baht and created 4,635 jobs, Deputy Commerce Minister Sinit Lertkrai said on Monday.

Among the new foreign companies, the biggest investors are Japanese, bringing in 37.73 billion baht and setting up 125 companies, followed by Chinese (20.84 billion baht from 22 companies) and Singaporean (11.69 billion baht from 75 companies).

Sinit said opening the door to foreign companies has helped promote knowledge and technology transfer, especially in fields related to government mega projects and infrastructure, such as the energy storage system for U-Tapao International Airport and petroleum exploration in the Gulf of Thailand.

He added that 94 of the new foreign companies have set up operations in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC). They account for 44.94 billion or 42% of the total foreign investment this year.

Most of these companies are from Japan, the US and Singapore, and are in the fields of biorefinery, software development, manufacturing system management and technical and engineering services.

The Commerce Ministry expects more foreign companies to enter Thailand before year-end now that most Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted and international travel has almost returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Source: The Nation