New investment projects in Thailand soar by 131% in 2012

BANGKOK, January 10 (TNA) - New international investment projects seeking promotional privileges from the Board of Investment of Thailand (BOI) soared to 1.46 trillion baht totally in 2012, a 131 per cent-year-on-year surge. Thai Industry Minister Prasert Boonchaisuk told a press conference of the upbeat development on Thursday, saying that the number of new investment projects seeking the BOI's promotional privileges in 2012 rose by 29.7 per cent year-on-year, and that the projects employed 348,866 people and the number of employees rose by 61.6 per cent. According to the industry minister, over 50 per cent of the new investment projects belonged to Japanese investors, followed by those of Dutch and Singaporean investors. The industry minister foresaw that international investors’ requests for the BOI's promotional privileges should keep growing this year, with the total value of the new investment projects seeking the BOI’s support estimated at 600-700 billion baht, thanks to Thailand's improved political stability. (TNA)