Foreign investment requests jump in Thailand

BANGKOK (Reuters): The value of foreign investment applications in Thailand in the first two months of 2012 jumped 92 percent from a year earlier to 82.2 billion baht ($2.67 billion), the Board of Investment (BOI) said on Wednesday.

The number of applications jumped 31 percent, showing that foreign firms remained confident in Thailand, it said.

Confidence was shaken by severe flooding in 2011, Thailand’s worst in at least five decades, which shut down seven big industrial estates from October and forced companies such as car maker Honda Motor Co and hard drive maker Western Digital to suspend operations.

Only 44 percent of the 838 affected manufacturing plants on the seven estates had resumed production as of Wednesday, according to Supap Klikachai, an aide to the industry minister.

The central bank has said manufacturing may not return to normal until the third quarter of this year. Thailand is the biggest car maker in Southeast Asia and the world’s number two maker of hard disk drives.



In terms of value, the main sector for foreign applications was electronics and electrical appliances with 25.5 billion baht, while chemicals, paper and plastics came in second, with metal, machinery, motor vehicle and auto parts third.



Japanese firms led the way with combined investment applications of 38.3 billion baht, while the United States took second place with 8.2 billion.



Total investment applications from Thai and foreign firms came to 154.2 billion baht in the first two months, the BOI said. ($1 = 30.78 Baht)