Applications for investment promotion in the first half of this year soared by 70% year-on-year to 364 billion baht in value, led by foreign direct investment skyrocketing 141% as global companies continue to choose Thailand as a manufacturing base, says the Board of Investment (BoI).
The number of project applications increased to 891 projects, up 18% from the corresponding period of 2022.
Of the total, 464 projects are in targeted industries, representing a combined value of 287 billion baht, or 79% of application value.
The targeted industries include electronics, food processing and automotive, especially the electric vehicle (EV) supply chain.
"Investment applications in the first half show a positive trend and foreign investment in particular continued to increase at a very high rate, especially in electronics and EVs, which are among our priority sectors," said Narit Therdsteerasukdi, secretary-general of the BoI.
"This reflects the confidence of foreign investors in Thailand regarding our fundamentals, well-developed infrastructure and our strong supply chain."
Those strong fundamentals include an improving forecast for economic growth and the recent announcement by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) that Thailand's competitiveness ranking for 2023 has improved by three positions, to 30th, out of 64 economies from around the world ranked by the IMD.
The number of foreign direct investment applications increased 33% to 507 projects during the first six months, said the BoI.
"China was ranked first in terms of investment value, with 61.5 billion baht from 132 projects," said Mr Narit.
Second was Singapore at 59.1 billion baht, followed by Japan at 35.3 billion.
The electrical appliances and electronics industry received the highest amount of investment and led the sector's ranking with 106 projects, with investment value at 160 billion baht, up seven times from the same period last year.
He said the sector's continuous rise reflects the ongoing relocation trend by electronic components makers seeking to reduce risk from the US-China trade war and geopolitical tensions.
In the past six months, the automotive and auto parts industry registered 80 investment applications worth a total of 19.6 billion baht, with most projects involving the production of parts such as tyres, axles, hybrid transmission systems and electric charging stations for EVs.
Some 14 EV battery manufacturers have been granted investment promotion benefits for projects worth a combined 33.9 billion baht, representing an annual production capacity of 276,640 units.