China investments in Thailand on the upswing as trade war drags on

[BANGKOK] Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) has been on the rise in Thailand since the start of the US-China trade war five years ago, and this trend looks set to continue as the kingdom becomes a key manufacturing hub for electric vehicles and electronic parts.

Between 2018 and 2022, Chinese project applications at Thailand’s Board of Investment (BOI) amounted to 450.1 billion baht (S$17.4 billion). This was much higher than the 320.4 billion baht in applications from Japan, 122.3 billion baht from Singapore and 107 billion baht from the US.

The BOI is a government agency under the Prime Minister’s Office and its mandate is to promote direct investment in Thailand by coming up with investment policies.