Investments in Thailand are expected to gain momentum this year, following a surge in applications for investment incentives by 35% in value terms to 1.14 trillion baht last year, the highest level recorded since 2014, led by large foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in data centres and cloud services, says the Board of Investment (BoI).
The digital sector topped the rankings by value for the first time in 2024, with 150 projects worth a combined 243 billion baht in pledged investment.
Major projects in this sector included applications to set up large data centres by units of large technology and cloud services companies such as Google (Alphabet) from the US and Australia's NextDC.
The electronics and electrical appliances sector came second, with an overall project value of over 231 billion baht, followed by the automotive sector (102 billion baht), the agriculture and food sector (87.6 billion baht) and petrochemicals and chemicals (49.1 billion baht).
"Investors' response to our policy to promote Thailand as a safe and neutral location for large digital sector and smart electronics projects was very impressive last year," said Narit Therdsteerasukdi, secretary-general of the BoI.
"We expect this trend to get even stronger in 2025 following the set up of Thailand's Semiconductor Board and the need for more companies to mitigate risk in view of the current geopolitical situation."
Mr. Narit said the board will this year continue to organise roadshows in all key FDI source markets, including China, the US, Japan and Europe to promote its policies and meet potential investors.
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January 29, 2025
