BANGKOK: Thailand expects to secure at least 800 billion baht (US$21.78 billion) worth of investment applications this year, the government said on Friday, as it seeks to attract more investors to help revive Southeast Asia's second-largest economy.
In the first quarter of 2024, the value of total investment applications rose 31 per cent year-on-year to 228 billion baht, the government said.
In 2023, overall investment pledges increased 43 per cent from a year earlier to a five-year high of 848 billion baht, with China the biggest foreign investors.
The government has said it is ready to facilitate investors.
"One of my government's agendas is to boost FDI (foreign direct investment) especially through improving the ease of doing business in the country," Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said on social media platform X on Friday.
In a separate statement, the government said AstraZeneca(Thailand) planned to invest 6.2 billion baht in the country in a three-year period starting in 2024, and it was ready to discuss further cooperation in science and innovation.
Separately, the Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) said on Friday it had approved eight projects worth a combined 57 billion baht, including a bio-ethylene plant project by the local joint venture of Brazil's Braskem.
New incentives were also approved for automotive parts makers investing to upgrade technology and improve their productivity or invest to transition their operations to serve new industries, such as the medical equipment or aviation sectors, the BOI said in a statement.