Foreign investment applications under the Foreign Business Act showed strong momentum in January, with total investment value reaching 33.8 billion baht, a 46% increase year-on-year, largely driven by investors from China, Japan and Singapore.
Deputy government spokeswoman Airin Phanrit said 113 foreign investors were granted approval to operate businesses in Thailand during the month, marking a 10% rise from the same period last year.
China led in terms of the number of applications with 26 projects worth 5.39 billion baht, followed by Japan with 25 applications valued at 15.3 billion baht. The United States ranked third with 16 applications worth 420 million baht, while Singapore recorded 12 applications valued at 5.51 billion baht. Hong Kong followed with 10 applications worth 587 million baht.
Ms Airin noted that a significant portion of the investment came through projects promoted under the Investment Promotion Act via the Board of Investment (BoI). A total of 55 BoI-promoted projects were approved, accounting for 49% of all applications, with a combined investment value of 17.2 billion baht.
She said the investment trends are in line with the government’s strategy to attract capital into future-focused industries, including advanced technology, digital and artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, clean energy and agri-business.
The leading business categories approved through the BoI channel were contract manufacturing services, high-value services and computer-related services.
Chinese investors mainly focused on wood processing for furniture and wood products, wholesale trading such as barcode printers and medical equipment, EV battery-swapping stations, and contract manufacturing of electronic components, machinery, fixtures and metal parts.
Japanese investments were concentrated in the procurement of raw materials and components for manufacturing, inspection and certification of used products, software development, and contract manufacturing of electric motors, moulded components and metal parts.
Meanwhile, US investments were primarily directed toward engineering services, advertising, food and beverage distribution, and software platform design, development, installation and maintenance.