China leads foreign direct investment! Thailand's first quarter investment exceeded 430 billion Thai baht

BOI Secretary General Nali stated that Thailand's investment will continue to maintain a strong growth momentum this year, with a significant increase in investment promotion applications in the first quarter, both in terms of project quantity and investment amount. The data shows that there were 822 investment promotion application projects, a year-on-year increase of 20%; The total investment amount reached 431.237 billion Thai baht, a year-on-year increase of 97%, reflecting investors' firm confidence in the potential of the Thai market.

The main investment industries are distributed as follows

digitize

40 projects with an investment of 94.735 billion Thai baht

Electronics and Electrical Appliances

122 projects with an investment of 87.814 billion Thai baht

automobile and parts

72 projects with an investment of 23.499 billion Thai baht

Renewable energy generation

Two projects with an investment of 17.517 billion Thai baht

Petrochemicals and Chemicals

81 projects with an investment of 13.942 billion Thai baht

Agriculture and Food Processing

61 projects with an investment of 12.719 billion Thai baht

tourism

10 projects with an investment of 9.261 billion Thai baht

medical industry

25 projects with an investment of 8.034 billion Thai baht

Foreign direct investment (FDI) continues to grow, with a total of 618 investment promotion applications, a year-on-year increase of 43%; The total investment reached 267.664 billion Thai baht, a year-on-year increase of 62%.

The ranking of main investment sources is as follows

Hong Kong, China 135.159 billion Thai baht

THB 47.308 billion in Chinese Mainland

Singapore 38.075 billion Thai baht

Japan 25.111 billion Thai baht

Taiwan, China 4.756 billion baht

2.142 billion Thai baht in the Netherlands

Malaysia 1.919 billion Thai baht

Ireland 1.628 billion Thai baht

France 1.531 billion Thai baht

Norway 1.418 billion Thai baht

From the perspective of investment areas, the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) ranks first with 444 projects and an investment of 246.555 billion Thai baht. Next is the central region, with 152.525 billion Thai baht; Southern region, 17.256 billion Thai baht; Northeast region, 5.551 billion Thai baht; Western region, 3.98 billion Thai baht; Northern region, 2.93 billion Thai baht.

In addition, the Thailand Industrial Upgrading Promotion Plan (Intelligent and Sustainable Industries) has received positive responses from corporate investors. In the first quarter, a total of 82 investment promotion projects were received, with a total investment of 5.548 billion Thai baht, mainly focused on energy-saving transformation, renewable energy application, production equipment upgrading, digital technology, and automation and robotics fields.

In the first quarter of 2025, BOI approved a total of 776 investment promotion projects with a total investment of 582.225 billion Thai baht. These approved projects are expected to generate multiple benefits, such as consuming local raw materials worth 190 billion baht annually (43% of the total raw material value), creating 60000 job opportunities, and increasing Thailand's annual export value by over 390 billion baht. At the same time, a total of 660 projects were issued with investment promotion certificates, involving an investment of 236.778 billion Thai baht.

The above data indicates that Thailand has continued its investment growth momentum from last year. However, US tariff policies, technological barriers from major powers, and geopolitical polarization will lead to a more intense competitive environment for Thailand, with competitors including both the two major economies of China and the United States, as well as from within the ASEAN region. To seize the opportunities of global changes, Thailand urgently needs significant transformation. At present, BOI is in negotiations with various parties to adjust investment promotion measures to adapt to the new situation.

At the same time, the new policy will be more in line with the new direction of national economic development, by creating high value-added employment, promoting technology transfer, promoting joint ventures and cooperation, improving the utilization rate of local raw materials, maintaining a moderate level of competition, and protecting local fragile industries, ensuring that Thailand not only attracts investment but also creates substantial benefits and development for the country and its people.

via 泰国澜象网