Deputy Minister of Commerce Napintorn Srisangpang (Photo: bangkokpost.com) Bangkok (VNA) – Foreign investment in Thailand reached 84 billion THB (2.3 billion USD) during January – September, down 15% as compared to the same time last year.
The country's Deputy Minister of Commerce Napintorn Srisangpang said the Foreign Business Committee granted license for 493 investment applications during the period, up 13% year-on-year.
The investments led to the employment of 5,703 Thai workers, a year-on-year increase of 41%.
Top five foreign investors in terms of investment applications were Japan (111), the US (80), Singapore (77), China (38), and China’s Hong Kong (20).
Regarding investment value, Japan led the pack with 22.9 billion THB, followed by Singapore (20.5 billion THB), China (13.3 billion THB), China’s Hong Kong (5.36 billion THB), and the US (3.98 billion THB).
Most of the projects were in petroleum drilling services within surveyed areas in the Gulf of Thailand; maintenance and repair services for offshore petroleum wells; design, procurement, installation, improvement, development, testing, integration and operation services for electric railway projects; among others.
Napintorn said during the period, 99 foreign investors expressed interest in investing in the Easter Economic Corridor (EEC), representing 20% of the total number of investors. The value of investment in the EEC tallied 16.1 billion THB./.
