Thailand Records Historic 630 Billion Baht in Foreign Investment

The Board of Investment reports that global investment trends are shifting toward technology, with ASEAN attracting over 8.1 trillion baht in foreign direct investment in 2025 and Thailand setting a historic record of 630 billion baht. Narudom Thadsirisan, secretary-general of the Board of Investment, disclosed this following Thailand's participation in the ASEAN Investment Area Council meeting held on September 19, 2025, in Manila, Philippines. The meeting aimed to discuss and align investment promotion strategies across ASEAN amid geopolitical uncertainty, global supply chain shifts, and rapid transitions to green and digital economies.

Thailand stressed the importance of upgrading ASEAN to prepare for waves of advanced technology investment, requiring readiness in workforce development, research and development, and supply chain enhancement to support emerging industries and create added value and sustainable growth for the region.

ASEAN received a total of 246 billion US dollars, or approximately 8.1 trillion baht, in foreign direct investment in 2025, a 10 percent increase that outpaced global FDI growth and represented over 15 percent of worldwide FDI. This made ASEAN the region attracting the most FDI with the fastest growth among developing nations, and marked the first time ASEAN's FDI exceeded major East Asian economies, reinforcing its role as a crucial global investment hub.

Thailand attracted 19.1 billion US dollars, or approximately 630 billion baht, in FDI, a historic 30 percent increase. Key drivers include investment in services, finance, and manufacturing, while information and communications investment doubled as digital economy and digital infrastructure expanded.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development noted that global and ASEAN FDI patterns are undergoing major structural shifts toward intangible asset investment—including technology, innovation, research and development, workforce development, technical services, and business support—rising significantly from 44 percent in 2010–2015 to 64 percent in 2018–2023, growing nearly twice as fast as tangible asset investment. Although ASEAN's R&D investment remains proportionally lower than other regions, this reflects opportunities for ASEAN and Thailand to attract high-quality FDI that builds technology, innovation, and regional value.

Thailand and ASEAN must accelerate development of science, technology, advanced digital, and engineering talent to support next-generation industries, a priority for the government and Board of Investment through initiatives like Skill Bridge, which aligns workforce skills with industry needs, and Business Transformation, which helps Thai businesses adopt technology to enhance competitiveness, enabling both nations to fully harness high-quality investment opportunities.

Thailand is also upgrading its ecosystem to attract quality investment. The meeting agreed with OECD guidance that current investment competition should not rely solely on tax incentives.