Thailand's investment pledges rose by 39% in 2022 from the previous year, according to the Board of Investment (BoI).
The increase, which saw pledges hit 665 billion baht, was led by large foreign direct investments (FDI) in key sectors, including electronics, the electric vehicle (EV) supply chain and data centres, confirming the recovery from the pandemic, said the BoI.
The numbers were announced on Friday after a BoI board meeting chaired by the prime minister.
The meeting also approved a coordination mechanism to facilitate multinational companies' applications to set up regional headquarters in Thailand, a plan to encourage the production and use of renewable energy to achieve the country's net-zero greenhouse gas emissions target, and three large investment projects.
"The increase in applications last year came in large part from global leaders, such as BYD Auto, Foxconn and Amazon Web Services, showing their confidence in Thailand as a resilient and investor-friendly location for investments in the industries of the future," said Narit Therdsteerasukdi, secretary-general of the BoI.
"This augurs well for 2023, when we expect the same sectors to attract more new investments."
The BoI expects applications for investment promotion in 2023 to stand at 500-600 billion baht, despite a poor global economic outlook.
According to the BoI's statement, local and foreign investors filed 2,119 applications for investment promotion last year, led by investments in the electronics and electrical appliances sector, tallying 130 billion baht.
Ranking second in terms of the combined value of applications was the automotive sector with 105 billion baht. Applications for investments in the EV supply chain, including pure EV, plug-in hybrid EVs, hybrid EVs, and batteries, amounted to almost 54 billion baht.
Investments in data centres totalled 42.5 billion baht.
FDI projects increased by 36% from the previous year to 434 billion baht, representing 65% of total pledges.
Investments from China topped the FDI value rankings with 158 projects worth a combined 77.4 billion baht, followed by Japan with 50.8 billion baht for 293 projects, the US with 50.3 billion baht for 33 projects, Taiwan with 45.2 billion baht for 68 projects, and Singapore with 44.3 billion baht for 178 projects.
The Eastern Economic Corridor, Thailand's prime industrial area comprising Chon Buri, Chachoengsao and Rayong provinces, topped the regional rankings with 359 billion baht worth of investments, an increase of 84% from 2021.
The BoI also approved three large investment projects in target sectors worth a combined 15.8 billion baht.
They include a 3.89-billion-baht investment by Auto Components (Thailand) Co in a facility to produce batteries for both pure EVs and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
The second project covers investment of 9.49 billion baht by Thai Tokai Carbon Product Co to expand its production of carbon black, an additive used to reinforce tyres, based on carbon feedstock oil.
Finally, TPI Polene Power Plc was approved for investment of 2.40 billion baht in a project to produce fuel from waste.
