Land sales at 61 industrial estates nationwide saw a year-on-year decline of 3.9% during the past nine months, mainly due to difficulties foreign investors face entering the country and an economic slowdown amid the pandemic, says the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT).
Land sales in the period of October 2019 to June 2020 fell to 1,696.92 rai.
IEAT governor Somchint Pilouk said the coronavirus crisis is not over, but the government will continue to expand investment projects to serve demand growth in the industrial estate sector.
"The IEAT is not concerned about the drop in land sales volume, because Thailand is taking advantage of investors relocating their manufacturing out of China," she said.
Earlier this year, the IEAT signed a contract to be a partner with private firms, including Pintong Industrial Park to develop the new industrial estate Phase 6 in Ban Khai and Nikhom Phatthana districts in Rayong with 1,322.4 rai, worth 2.62 billion baht.
The agency teamed up with Park Industry, a subsidiary of Singha Corporation, to develop the World Food Valley Thailand industrial estate. The project is located in Ang Thong province on 1,398 rai with total investment of 4.2 billion baht.
The IEAT is in the progress of approving a new industrial park zone for the Rojana-Chon Buri 2 (Khao Khan Song) industrial estate that the IEAT partnered with Rojana Industrial Park to develop, located on 902.59 rai in Chon Buri and worth 2.1 billion baht.
The IEAT also joined Asia Clean Industrial Park to develop a new industrial estate to serve investment in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).
The new industrial estate, called Asia Clean Industrial, is located on 1,319.89 rai in Chon Buri's Ban Bung district and worth 2.44 billion baht.
The IEAT runs 61 industrial estates in 17 provinces with 177,261 rai of land, including 39,332 rai owned and operated by the authority and 137,929 rai for partner projects.
The IEAT has sold 1,599 rai of land in the EEC and 97.97 rai outside the EEC.