TIR: Were you satisfied with the level of investments in 2013?
Secretary General: By the end of 2013, we were pleased to see that the BOI had received 2,237 applications for investment promotion. This was for a total value of over 1,110,400 million baht. More specifically, large-scale projects accounted for 69% of the total applications, those with a value of more than 1 billion baht. These included 173 projects and 767,500 million ba ht.
Thailand is well positioned to be the medical hub of Asia. The country offers state-of-the-art facilities and technologies, internationally certified medical services, excellent medical expertise, highly qualified medical professionals, and a wide range of high-standard hospitals. Thailand also has a significant number of internationally accredited medical facilities.
In an increasingly competitive and evolving global economy, the Kingdom of Thailand remains as one of the most attractive investment destinations in the world. The country's economic resilience continues to be reaffirmed, through its rapid emergence from the grips of a worldwide recession, quick recovery from the devastating floods of 2011, and its upward-trending development during these past years of political turmoil. Despite all of the internal and external challenges the country has confronted, Thailand's ranking on the Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom (IEF) remains solid and in positive territory.
2014 is a pivotal year for the Kingdom of Thailand. The country finds itself staring at the emerging horizon of the ASEAN Economic Community and positioning itself for integration into Southeast Asia's first common market. Indeed, the Kingdom's blueprint for the AEC already has been put into action through the implementation of certain policies that are meant to promote and expand cross-border trade and foreign direct investment.
Five years after the global financial crisis triggered the worst downturn since the Great Depression, the world economy may have finally turned the corner, at least according to the World Bank. Indeed, the World Bank has raised its forecast for global growth this year, its first upgrade in three years. Furthermore, the poverty-fighting institution also predicted a faster pace of expansion for both 2015 and 2016. With the International Monetary Fund also expected to revise its growth projections upwards, the Asia-Pacific region appears set to benefit.
"The number of CEOs who believe that the global economy will improve over the next 12 months has doubled to 44%, compared to the previous year. Only 7% of CEOs, compared with 28% last year, think that things will get worse in the year ahead. CEOs are also feeling better about their own companies' prospects, with 39% now very confident of revenue growth in 2014" writes Dennis M Nally, chairman, PricewaterhouseCoopers International Ltd in the preface of the 17th Annual Global CEO Survey.
Thailand's infrastructure continues to get stronger with the expansion of Phuket airport, which is now underway. Terminal X, ready for operation, was built under an expedited program to offer much-needed extra capacity to cope with rising traffic demand before the airport's main expansion is completed in May next year.
A recent quarterly presentation given by CBRE shows the strength of Thailand's economy and the vibrancy of its business community is certainly reflected in the growth of office space in Bangkok's central business district, accompanied by a like increase in demand.
While much has been reported about infrastructure projects being put on hold at the beginning of this year, the Airport Authority of Thailand is reported to be ready to enter phase 2 of Suvarnabhumi design. A 1.3 billion baht construction project will boost the capacity of the airport to 65 million passengers per year. The project will increase the number of parking bays and enhance terminal space. At the same time, Don Mueang is also getting a facelift that will enable the airport to increase capacity by an additional 18 million a year.
