| Thailand’s machinery and metalworking industry is home to about 50,000 enterprises and 400,000 workers, with demand growing for more sophisticated products. This creates attractive opportunities for investors since the local industry offers a limited supply of high-end machinery and parts. In fact, machinery and parts rank among Thailand’s top 5 most imported goods, with their inbound shipments totaling US$19.84 billion in 2011. Japan is the primary source of these products, representing about 24.6% of such imports, followed by China at 21.3% and the United States at 9.4%. The leading products include air or vacuum pumps and air or gas compressors and fans, with US$1.50 billion in imports. |
