FDI falls 20% so far this year despite a rise in number of foreign investors

The first seven months of this year saw 377 foreign business people invest 58.95 billion baht in the kingdom, an increase of 17% in the number of investors but a drop of 20% in the value of foreign direct investment (FDI), a senior official said.

Thosapol Thangsubutr, director of the Department of Business Development, said 377 foreign investors received approval to operate businesses in Thailand from January to July.

He said 122 of them received foreign business licences to operate their businesses and 255 of them have been granted business operation certificates for foreign nationals.

Thosapol said the investors had hired 3,594 Thais for their businesses.

Japan topped the list with 19.893 billion baht in investment, followed by the United States (3.044 billion), Singapore (12.925 billion), China (11.663 billion), and Germany (1.298 billion).

The number of foreign investors increased by 17% (54 in total) compared to the same period last year but the value of investment dropped 20% to 14.674 billion baht, Thosapol said.

He said the number of Thais hired by foreign-invested companies from January to July this year increased by 286 or 9% when compared to the same period last year.

Thosapol said 19% of the 377 investors invested in the Eastern Economic Corridor. In terms of value, the amount was 12.348 billion baht, or 21% of the total during the period.

In July, 51 foreign nationals invested 10.023 billion in Thailand, creating 327 jobs for Thais, Thosapol said.

Some of the investors transferred technologies to their Thai partners, especially for petroleum drilling and offshore oil rigs, he said.

Source : The Nation