Thailand: BoI expects 12% rise in investment pledges

• Jan 12, 2018

The Board of Investment (BoI) expects to receive investment proposals of 720 billion baht ($22.56 billion) this year, up 12% from 2017, it said on Friday.

In 2017, foreign and domestic firms applied to invest about 642 billion baht, topping the 600 billion baht target, Board of Investment secretary-general Duangjai Asawachintachit said.

The board did not release data on actual foreign investment last year.

By value of applications, Japan remained the biggest foreign investor last year, with 133 billion baht, followed by Singapore, China and the US.

Economic growth has lagged regional peers since the army took power in 2014. Planned large infrastructure projects have generally been slow to get off the ground.

The state planning agency projects economic growth in a range between 3.6% and 4.6% this year. It has forecast 3.9% for 2017, data for which will be announced on Feb 19.

Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/1394674/boi-expects-12-rise-in-investment-pledges