On December 25, Thai government spokesman Chai Wacharonke revealed that Japan's four major automakers will invest 150 billion baht in Thailand's electric vehicle (EV) industry in the next five years。Toyota Motor and Honda Motor will each invest about 50 billion baht, Isuzu Motor will invest 30 billion baht, and Mitsubishi Motors will invest 20 billion baht, according to the Thai Investment Promotion Council (BOI).。

Chai said that the production of electric pickups will accelerate in the next few years due to the investment of Japanese automakers supporting Thailand's transition from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles.。

It is reported that Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin traveled to Japan last week to attend the 50th anniversary summit of ASEAN-Japan friendship and cooperation in Tokyo, during which he held talks with seven Japanese automakers.。

Chai said Japanese automakers have confirmed that they will use Thailand as their main production base in the region, and the Thai government is willing to support their transition to modern automotive technology to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.。During the talks, Japanese automakers also proposed a battery exchange system for commercial vehicles, and the Thai government also expressed its desire to publicize the domestic business environment to Japanese investors。

In order to promote trade, investment and business between the two countries, the Thai government has taken a number of measures, including the introduction of a visa-free policy for short-term business travel from 31 December 2026.。

The Thai government believes that Japan can help promote and develop the industries that Thailand hopes to promote, including electric vehicle manufacturing, biomedical industry, digital industry, infrastructure, agricultural development and human resource development。

Thai Prime Minister Srettha stressed that Japanese automakers can play an important role in helping Thailand become a leader in electric vehicle manufacturing in the region.。Thailand is keen to cooperate with Japanese automakers interested in expanding investment in Thailand to create a mutually beneficial situation for the electric vehicle industry of the two countries。

The Federation of Thai Industries estimates that Thailand will produce 2.5 million vehicles in 2030, of which 70% will be new-generation vehicles based on internal combustion engine technology, and the rest will be zero-emission vehicles in the electric vehicle field.。

Auramon Supthaweethum, Director General of Thailand's Department of Business Development, said that between January and November 2023, a total of 612 foreigners were granted permission to invest in Thailand under the Foreign Enterprises Act (1999), an increase of 15% compared to the same period last year.。The total value of foreign investment was 982..800 million baht, a decrease of 13% compared to the same period last year, created jobs for 6,086 Thais, an increase of 22%。

According to statistics, the country with the largest number of foreign investors is Japan (129), with an investment of 30.1 billion baht, followed by Singapore (95), with an investment of 22.2 billion baht.。Of these, another 95 are from the United States, with an investment of 42.300 million baht; 56 from mainland China with an investment of 15.8 billion baht; 26 from Hong Kong, China with an investment of 5.8 billion baht。

"During this period, most of the foreign enterprises licensed were to meet the needs of Thailand's infrastructure development and government policies to improve national competitiveness, such as electrified railway projects, software development, online platform development and oil drilling, among others," said Auramon.。