In the first meeting of the newly appointed Board of Investment of Thailand, led by Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha, Head of National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), 18 projects worth over 4 billion USD submitted for investment promotion were approved.
In a move that aimed to boost investors’ confidence in Thailand’s economy amidst political turbulences, the Board of Investment of Thailand, the equivalent of India’s FIPB, which has recently been revamped after prolonged political uncertainty, cleared 18 pending applications for investment promotion worth over 4 billion USD (120 billion baht).
At the 18-June meeting, the Board gave green light to 18 projects sizes in term of value ranging from 30 million to 1.7 billion USD, with the heftiest project being that of Toyota Motor Thailand's 1.7 billion USD planned production of 570,000 pickup trucks at their plants in Samut Prakan and Chachoengsao provinces.
Other important foreign investment projects being approved by the Board include SAIC Motor-CP Co, a joint venture of the China-based car maker SAIC Motor Corporation and Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand Group, was approved for a project worth 300 million USD (9.2 billion baht) to set up a plant in Chon Buri province in the eastern seaboard to produce 52,000 passenger cars.
LLIT (Thailand)'s 600 million USD (18.9-billion-baht) project to produce 11.2 million tyres, Posco Coated Steel (Thailand)'s manufacturing of 450,000 tonnes of coated steel for 330 million USD (10 billion baht) and SuperNap's data centre production worth (230 million USD) 6.9 billion baht were also among the projects sanctioned by BOI.
Mr. Udom Wongviwatchai, Secretary-General of BOI, said that “the decisions by the Board today have created positive sentiments among investors, especially those which are still unsure about the situation in Thailand, including the future projects. These approved projects will considerably help stimulate the economy and increase employment in the next year”.
In a related development, the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) said investors from Europe and Asia had continued to express interest in Thailand, particularly in the automobile, machinery, electronics and electrical appliances, recycling, food and beverage, iron and steel, construction, and packaging sectors.
Investors prefer locations around Bangkok and the Eastern Seaboard, while the IEAT has developed industrial estates in the central, eastern and northeastern regions to serve foreign investors.
Praphan Samphaiworakit
19 June 2014
