The Department of Business Development (DBD) expects new business registrations for 2024 to reach its target range of 90,000 to 98,000 as more investment budget for the 2025 fiscal year is disbursed and the high season for tourism arrives at year-end.
Auramon Supthaweethum, director-general of the department, said there will be 20,000-23,000 more new business registrations in the final quarter of this year, which will meet the target of 90,000-98,000, the highest level in a decade. This is attributed to government stimulus measures, in particular large-scale public infrastructure projects in the 2025 fiscal year, which began in October 2024, the high season for tourism from November 2024 to April 2025, and the government's debt restructuring measures.
The department reported that new business registrations in the first nine months of the year increased by 1.49% to 69,686, with combined registered capital of 208 billion baht, down 57.8% year-on-year.
The top three business categories with the highest number of registrations were general construction, real estate and restaurants.
In the first three quarters of 2024, three categories of business activity saw a significant increase in new registrations. Registrations of radio broadcasting businesses (except online) increased 41-fold after the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission ordered radio broadcasting stations to apply for a broadcasting licence by Dec 31, 2024. New registrations of vending machines for car washes, laundries, and photo machines grew by 3.6 times, while there was a 2.56-fold increase in registrations for rice cultivation businesses, as the Rice Department supports farmer groups being established as a juristic entity to benefit from a reduction in agricultural production costs.
It was found that platform and software businesses led the way in helping to expand the market for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by creating a competitive advantage over large businesses.
In the first nine months of the year, 913 companies operated platform and software business with a combined capital of 1.7 billion baht, according to the DBD.
Over the past three years, platform and software businesses were able to post continuous profits, with a combines net profit in 2023 of almost 1.5 billion baht, consisting of 775 million baht from platform businesses and 722 million from software businesses.
Changing consumer behaviour is creating a strong trend in the platform and software business sector, attributed to online purchases and information searches concerning products and services, according to the DBD.
The adoption of new technologies such as online platforms by SMEs is helping them with their business operations, noted the DBD.
The value of foreign investment in Thailand's platform and software businesses tallied 28 billion baht, led by Singapore, Taiwan and Malaysia.