Atchaka Sibunruang, Industry Minister of Thailand, said China was second only to Japan, which applied for Board of Investment privileges for projects worth Bt27 billion during the period.
"Chinese enterprises are attracted to the policy to promote 10 target industries and the Eastern Economic Corridor," she said yesterday.
As of May, China's 2016 investment was valued at only Bt8.89 billion.
The targeted industries are: automotive and auto parts, petrochemicals, smart electronics, agriculture and biotechnology, tourism, medical, digital, robotics, aviation, and textiles.
According to the Board of Investment, under the "10 targeted industries" scheme, foreign companies applied for incentives for 161 projects with proposed investment of Bt57.9 billion from January to May.
At the end of July, the value of project applications in the 10 target industries accounted for 43 per cent of the value of total applications, or Bt139 billion.
This success encouraged the BOI to increase the 2016 investment-value target by 20 per cent to Bt550 billion.
Meanwhile, the new economic corridor is designed to spice up the development of the Eastern Seaboard.
To promote investment from China, Siam Commercial Bank this week announced a Bt5-billion bridge-loan scheme for Chinese companies' land purchases in Thailand.
Sarasin Viraphol, executive vice president of Charoen Pokphand Group, said at a recent conference that Asean as a whole could see a fivefold increase in Chinese investment over the next five years thanks to cheap labour.
Atchaka yesterday welcomed to her office Cong Sufeng, vice chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade in Jiangsu, a business delegation from Jiangsu, a coastal province north of Shanghai.
She was briefed that 87 Jiangsu enterprises had established presence in Thailand, including 37 that had applied for BOI privileges for projects valued around US$600 million (about Bt20.7 billion). One of the delegates is also prepared to submit a project worth about $30 million.
Watcharee Tintani, director of the Investment Promotion Section, Royal Thai Consulate-General in Shanghai, said the section aimed to attract at least Bt25 billion worth of investment from Shanghai to Thailand this year.
She is confident of achieving the goal as companies in locomotive and train-carriage manufacturing were exploring investment opportunities in Thailand.
Next year, the section targets investment from at least 80 companies operating in the 10 target industries being promoted by Thailand.
The Nation
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