Thailand Travel News: Thailand’s Board of investment (BoI) has reported it received a record Bt723.40 billion (about $US28.88 billion) worth of applications for foreign investment in 2009, the highest amount since the agency was established 40 years ago and exceeding the agencies target by 80 percent.

BoI secretary-general, Atchaka Sibunruang Brimble, said the record number of applications shows that foreign investors still have confidence in Thailand’s economic fundamentals.

Ms. Atchaka said the BoI had set a target of Bt400 billion ($US12 billion) for last year, which it had dubbed “2009: year of investment”, but the applications far exceeded everyone’s expectations.

According to Ms. Atchaka, the majority of applications were in the services and utilities industries, with 709 applications for projects worth Bt430.8 billion ($US13 billion) being submitted, followed by the electronics and electrical appliances industries, which attracted 219 proposals totalling Bt100.90 billion ($US3 billion).

Projects in the services and utilities industries included those for electricity production using wind, solar, and natural gas, while those in the electronics field included the production of hard disk drives, integrated circuits, parts for digital cameras, electronic parts for vehicles, and refrigerators and air conditioners.

Ms. Atchaka said the BoI had also received 212 applications with a combined value of Bt66.80 billion ($US2 billion) for agricultural projects, such as ethanol and bio diesel production, as well as for the production of finished and processed foods, while applications for the automobile and auto parts industries attracted 217 submissions with a total value of Bt55.50 billion ($US1.678 billion).

By: John Le Fevre

Thailand Travel News for January 13, 2010