From Inward to Outward: An Assessment of FDI Performance in Thailand

By Aekapol Chongvilaivan*
1. Introduction
Foreign direct investment (FDI) has long been a crux catalyst of impressive economic and
industrial development in Thailand. It not only brings in capital resources and job creation but
also offers new technology, knowhow, and managerial and organizational expertise, among
others, to domestic industries vis--vis backward and forward linkages. Due to this reason,
Thailands economic development strategies have zeroed in on ushering in FDI since the 1980s.
Even though the strategy that positioned Thailand as a regional host of FDI with low production
costs and a rich source of relatively skilled workers has proven to be successful as it essentially
fuelled the process of industrialization and remarkable economic growth, the rapidly evolving
business environments in the world highlights that Thailands competitiveness has deteriorated.
This was particularly evident in the aftermath of the global economic downturn in 2008-9, thanks
to escalating labour costs, the rise of China and India and chronic political unrest, in addition to
the recent inundation caused by poor infrastructure and flawed water management. These recent
developments caution that the conventional FDI strategy Thailand has adopted will soon reach
its limit of offering the pace of economic growth and industrialisation the country once
materialised.
Against this backdrop, this paper attempts to take stock of FDI, both inward and outward,
in Thailand and assesses its potential and performance. Although the global economic crisis in
2008-9 negatively impacted the prospect of foreign investment in Thailand and spurred a sharp
reversal, the recent developments witnessed a resurgence of inward FDI which has by and large
set the stage for Thailands robust economic recovery. Concurrently, firms headquartered in
Thailand have also emerged as a global investor. The recent trend of outward FDI flows from
Thailand highlights that Thai firms have increasingly started to depart from their comfort zones,
explore new business opportunities, and thrive on synergies and complementarities with new
partners by venturing overseas. Nevertheless, several drawbacks and challenges remain and
*

Aekapol Chongvilaivan is Fellow and Coordinator, Regional Economic Studies Programme, the Institute of
Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), Singapore. The usual disclaimer applies.

critically hamper the country from fully exploiting its massive potential. These include its
passive strategy towards FDI that trapped itself in the low skill-intensive low-end production;
inadequate infrastructure and institutional quality that prevents the country from fully exploiting
its large potential; and unsatisfactory capacity of local entrepreneurs to venture overseas where
new business opportunities and complementarities with foreign partners lie.
The remainder of this paper is organised as follows. Section 2 reviews the current
macroeconomic outlook in Thailand. Section 3 examines a primer of inward and outward FDI.
Section 4 assesses the performance of inward and outward FDI. Section 5 offers some policy
recommendations.
2. Current Macroeconomic Outlook
[Insert Table 1 here]
Notwithstanding a series of political unrests and the global economic crisis in 2008-9, the recent
economic developments witnessed a rather sanguine picture of a robust recovery with a real
gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 7.8 percent in 2010; economic growth is projected
to continue, albeit at a slower pace, towards the end of 2011. The economic resilience that has
allowed the country to bounce back strongly and swiftly from the global economic meltdown
resulted in the persistent increases in gross national product (GNP) per capita, thereby
substantiating poverty reduction. The catalyst of Thailands impressive economic performance
pertains largely to growing FDI inflows into non-agricultural sectors (e.g. manufacturing and
service sectors) which account for more than 90 percent of GDP on average, in addition to rising
export demands from emerging countries like China and India. Looking beyond the current rosy
outlook, the deliberation of recent macroeconomic variables, however, cautions that several
downsize risks remain, increasingly pointing to the signs of weakening economic fundamentals
emerge. This may ultimately reverse the upbeat trend of economic development in Thailand.
First and foremost, an influx of capital inflows has by and large undermined Thailands
competitiveness in terms of rapid currency appreciation and escalating inflation. The net capital
movement in 2010 reached USD23.9 billion in contrast to a reversal of USD2.6 billion in 2009
and an average net inflow of USD1.45 billion during 2001-6 (see Table 1). The surge in capital
inflows into Thailand has translated into drastic appreciation of baht from an average of 41.24

Baht/USD to 30.32 Baht/USD in 2011 as the demand for baht hiked. Likewise, a surge in capital
inflows has entailed ever-increasing inflation vis--vis a shift in demands for local products and
resources. The headline and core consumer price indices during January-June 2011 hit an alltime peak of 111.75 and 105.72, respectively, critically inculcating unproductive businesses and
industries through price and wage spikes.
Furthermore, the persistent government budget deficits have exacerbated Thailands
sound economic fundamentals. The situation of government finance in Table 1 indicates that the
Thai governments cash balances have consecutively exhibited deficits since 2001; the deficits
are, if not intensified, noticeable to date. Even though approximately 80-90 percent of public
debt has been financed by domestic sources, the excessive public spending forced an exponential
increase in the public debt, deteriorated the fiscal position, and eventually limited room for
government stimuli and interventions. A root cause of persistent government budget deficits
perhaps rests with a vicious cycle of populist policies whereby unproductive public spending,
such as consumer grants/loans, social transfers, and consumption subsidies, among others, are
made to gain votes and win the election.
Last but not least, the interest rate is on the rise, putting downward pressure on economic
growth in 2012. Table 1 indicates that the maximum interest rate for one-year fixed deposits
increased from 1.7 percent in 2010 to 3 percent in 2011, passing the average rate of 2.58 percent
during 2001-6. A pivotal factor of the upward trend of the interest rate is attributable to everincreasing inflation caused primarily by an influx of capital flows on top of sizeable fiscal and
monetary stimuli. If this trend continues, the untamed inflation will soon prompt the central bank
to step in and take necessary counter-cyclical actions that could result in slower growth in 2012.
3. A Primer of FDI in Thailand
3.1 Recent Trends
[Insert Table 2 here]
In the run-up to the global financial crisis in 2008-9, inward FDI flows into Thailand increased
exponentially. From 2005 to 2007, the country, on average, had attracted USD9.65 billion per
annum compared with merely USD4.48 billion per annum during 1995-2004 (see Table 2). The

surge in FDI inflows into Thailand is attributed mainly to its solid position in the Asian nexus of
production networks, together with its strategic location at the heart of Southeast Asia, relatively
cheap labour cost and an abundant pool of skilled workers. The rising dependence on inward FDI
as a key driver of economic growth and industrialization is also observed in various Asian
countries, particularly Indonesia, Malaysia, China and, not least, India. However, the global
economic downturn in 2008 put the mounting trend of FDI inflows into Thailand to a halt as the
bleak business climates in the United States and the euro zone triggered the de-leveraging
attempts among transnational corporations (TNCs) and new investment projects were postponed,
if not put off. FDI inflows into Thailand in 2008, as a result, exhibited a sudden plunge to
USD8.45 billion and were later nearly halved to USD4.98 billion in 2009. While other Southeast
Asian economies like Indonesia and Malaysia also experienced a sharp FDI inflow reversal,
emerging markets in China and India were less affected, thanks to their strong, large domestic
demands and buoyant macroeconomic outlooks. Notwithstanding the ripple effects of the global
economic meltdown on FDI inflows, an influx of foreign investment, as of 2010-11, bounced
back strongly in Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand. The value of FDI inflows into
Thailand amounted to USD5.81 billion in 2010 (Table 1) and February-June of 2011 witnessed
the persistent surpluses of net FDI inflows (Figure 1).
In contrast to inward FDI flows, outward FDI flows from Thailand had surged
consistently from USD0.41 billion per year during 1995-2004 to USD5.12 billion in 2010, and
the growing significance of outward FDI continued in the midst of the global economic
downturn in 2008-9. This signifies that Thailand, as well as other Southeast Asian countries
particularly Malaysia, has emerged as a source of outward FDI as it started to venture overseas
and leverage on complementarities with foreign markets. A number of factors serve as a driving
force of Thailands evolving investment position from a host to a source of FDI. Firstly and
perhaps most importantly, Thailand is losing competitive advantages in terms of low labour costs
to China and India and may lose its ground as an attractive destination of FDI. This seems
increasingly likely given an enormous increase in FDI flows into the two large economies and a
slower pace of FDI flows in Southeast Asia. Additionally, outward FDI offers a panacea for
Thailand to seek new business opportunities abroad and enjoy synergies with foreign markets.

Foreign direct investment can be broadly categorized into two types: Greenfield FDI and
cross-border merger and acquisition (M&A). The former refers to a new venture in a foreign
country by constructing new operational facilities from the ground up; hence, this form of FDI
tends to target long-term investment projects while creating new long-term jobs. In contrast, the
latter pertains to the joining of two firms or the takeover of one firm by another when the parties
involved are located in different countries. It can be hypothesised that this type of FDI is
relatively foot-loose and has limited effects on enhancing employment in a host country.
[Insert Table 3 here]
During 2005-7, cross-border M&A accounted for approximately 20 percent of total FDI
inflows; on average, the net sales of cross-border M&A in Thailand amounted to USD1.84
billion a year (Table 3). These figures imply that although cross-border M&A, whereby foreign
ventures buy up local firms, is noticeable, Greenfield FDI serves as a key vehicle of inward
foreign direct investment. Cross-border M&A was severely affected by the global economic
slowdown in 2008-9. In 2008, the net sales of cross-border M&A were slashed to merely
USD0.14 billion more than a 90 percent decline even though total inward FDI slightly
dropped from the average of USD9.65 billion a year during 2005-7 to USD8.45 billion in 2008.
This can be explained by the fact that cross-border M&A is inherently foot-loose relative to
Greenfield FDI. In 2009-10, although cross-border M&A started to pick up again, the pace of the
recovery had been slow and the level of cross-border M&A activities was still remarkably lower
than the level prevailing in the run-up to the global financial crisis.
The aftermath of the global financial crisis witnessed the trend that Thailand has emerged
as a global investor tapping business opportunities overseas. Before the global economic
breakdown in 2005-7, the net purchases of cross-border M&A are negligible; however, a
structural change is observed during 2008-10 when cross-border M&A soared exponentially,
reaching USD2.86 billion in 2010. This development is understandable given the fact that in the
aftermath of the global economic downturn, inward FDI flows into Thailand in terms of
Greenfield FDI and, in particular, cross-border M&A have substantially declined, triggering the
fear that Thailands impressive economic performance driven largely by inward FDI will soon
reach its limit should this trend continue. Now that Thailands competitiveness as a host of FDI
has been deteriorated by the global economic slowdown, a sluggish recovery in the United States

and the euro zone and, not least, the rise of China and India, it seems imperative for Thai
entrepreneurs to switch business strategies away from conventional approaches that put undue
emphasis on domestic markets toward more pro-active investment by venturing overseas,
exploring business opportunities in new markets and tapping on synergies and complementarities
with foreign partners.
3.2 Sources and Sectors of FDI
[Insert Figure 2 here]
Figure 2 portrays the shares of net FDI flows into Thailand by source countries in 2010 in
comparison with those averaged during 2000-5. Several developments should be highlighted.
First, the European Union took over Japans position as the largest source of FDI flows into
Thailand. During 2000-2005, Japan accounted for 45 percent of net FDI flows into Thailand and
had secured its position as Thailands most important investor, especially in the automotive and
electronics industries. However, the share of net FDI flows into Thailand taken by Japan plunged
considerably to 22 percent in 2010, due to the long-slumbering economic outlook in Japan, on
top of increasingly drastic FDI competition from low labour-cost countries like China, India and
Vietnam. At the same time, the share of net FDI flows into Thailand from the European Union
has surged remarkably from merely 8 percent on average during 2000-5 to 29 percent during
2010.
Second, East Asian countries have emerged as an important investor in Thailand. During
2000-5, the share of net FDI flows into Thailand from Hong Kong was limited to 5 percent, and
the amount of net FDI flows from China and Korea was negligible. In 2010, in contrast, Hong
Kong took up as much as 9 percent of net FDI flows into Thailand, followed by 3 percent for
Korea and 2 percent for China. The exception is perhaps Taiwan, where the share of net FDI
flows into Thailand declined from 2 percent on average during 2000-5 to nearly nil in 2010, due
largely to the ripple effects of the global economic crisis.
[Insert Figure 3 here]
Last, the FDI flows from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) into
Thailand were badly affected by the global financial crisis. Although the investment ties within

ASEAN have been firmly strengthened through a series of regional cooperation initiatives such
as ASEAN Investment Areas (AIA) and trade and investment facilitation, the share of net FDI
flows into Thailand from ASEAN countries dropped dramatically from the average of 23 percent
during 2000-5 to 8 percent in 2010 (Figure 2). A closer look into the intra-ASEAN sources of
FDI flows into Thailand reveals a root cause of Thailands deteriorating investment tie with
ASEAN. Since the past two decades, intra-ASEAN FDI flows into Thailand have been
dominated by Singapore, taking up more than 90 percent of net FDI flows (Figure 3). Even
though the rising role of other ASEAN countries in cross-border investment in Thailand has been
observed, the share of net FDI flows from other ASEAN countries remains infinitesimal relative
to those from Singapore. In connection with Figure 2, Figure 3 underlines that the decline in the
share of the intra-ASEAN FDI flows into Thailand was driven mainly by an enormous plunge in
FDI from Singapore the country in ASEAN that was most vulnerable to the global financial
crisis in 2008-9 from approximately USD1.9 billion on average during 2006-9 to merely
USD0.23 billion in 2010. In fact, the net FDI flows into Thailand from ASEAN countries,
excluding Singapore, have steadily increased from the average of USD 123.2 million during
2006-9 to USD154.8 million in 2010, in spite of a significant slowdown of the global economy
in 2008-9.
[Insert Figure 4 here]
Figure 4 decomposes the net FDI flows into Thailand by economic sectors. FDI in
Thailand has been dominated by manufacturing sectors, particularly electronics and automotive
industries, since the past two decades, and its growing dominance has been observed in both
absolute and relative terms. During 1981-1990, manufacturing sectors constituted about half of
net FDI flows into Thailand; since then, the share has continuous risen to more than 60 percent.
Although the decline in net FDI flows into Thailands manufacturing industries was observed in
the dollar term from USD4.4 billion on average during 2006-9 to USD3.2 billion in 2010, the
share of the manufacturing sectors was hardly affected as it still stood at approximately 60
percent of net FDI flows. The net FDI flows into Thailands service sectors, particularly financial
services, have exhibited a decline in their relative importance since the aftermath of the Asian
financial crisis. During 1991-2000, more than half of net FDI flows into Thailand went to service
sectors; however, the proportion markedly plunged to merely a quarter during 2001-5. The

vulnerabilities of FDI flows into Thailands service sector also played out in the aftermath of the
global financial crisis during which the net FDI flows in the service sectors considerably
declined from USD3.3 billion a year during 2006-9 to USD1.2 billion in 2010.
4. Assessment of Inward and Outward FDI Performance
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) develops two indices
that assess inward FDI performance. One is the Inward FDI Performance index, which ranks
countries by the amount of FDI received relative to their economic size. It is essentially the ratio
of a countrys FDI share in the worlds FDI to a countrys GDP share in the worlds GDP.
Specifically, the Inward FDI Performance index of a country i, INDi , can be expressed as:

INDi =

FDI i FDI w
,
GDPi GDPw

(1)

where FDI i FDI w is a country is inward FDI share in the worlds inward FDI,
and GDPi GDPw is a country is GDP share in the worlds GDP. Intuitively, the Inward FDI
Performance index captures the influence on FDI of factors other than market size, such as
business climate, economic and political stability, the presence of natural resources,
infrastructure, skills and technologies, and FDI promotion policy.
The other is the Inward FDI Potential index, which is an average of 12 economic and
policy variables other than market size. These include: GDP per capita, the rate of GDP growth
over the past 10 years, the share of exports in GDP, the average number of telephone lines,
commercial energy use per capita, the share of R&D spending per capita, the share of tertiary
students in population, country risk, the world market share in exports of natural resources, the
world market share in exports of parts and components for automobiles and electronic products,
the world market share in exports of services, and the share in the worlds inward FDI stock.
[Insert Table 4 here]
Table 4 portrays the rankings of Thailand in terms of the Inward FDI Performance and
Potential indices. As of 2010, Thailand was ranked 83rd by Inward FDI Performance. Although
its ranking was slightly improved from 84th in 2008-9 to 83rd in 2010, the result underlines that

Thailand has lacked behind the core ASEAN economies like Singapore (9th), Vietnam (22nd),
Malaysia (46th), and Indonesia (79th). The Inward FDI Potential index, in contrast, is quite
encouraging. As of 2009, Thailand was ranked 56th, following Singapore (6th), China (27th) and
Malaysia (35th). This implies that Thailands economic and policy environments are
satisfactorily conducive to foreign investment and largely help the country position itself as an
attractive FDI destination. A key message delivered from the rankings of the Inward FDI
Performance and Potential is that while Thailand stands in good stead to leverage on inward FDI,
its enormous potentials have not been fully realized. There is therefore large room for economic
and industrial policies that push forward Thailands FDI performance.
[Insert Table 5 here]
Table 5 sheds light on some weaknesses of Thailand as a host of inward FDI, based on
the World Banks Doing Business. Overall, Thailands ease of doing business was ranked 17th in
2012, falling from 16th in 2011. A breakdown of the overall measure into various aspects of ease
of doing business reveals that except for starting a business, which has already been falling
behind, and trading across borders, all measures of ease of doing business in Thailand
deteriorated, particularly registering property, paying taxes, and resolving insolvency, on top of
getting credit, getting electricity and protecting investors. Inadequacy of infrastructure and legal
and institutional quality that are vital to attracting FDI is attributable largely to the chronic
political unrests and, not least, the unprecedented floods that wiped out major industrial parks in
the second half of 2011.
Outward FDI performance can also be measured in the same fashion as the Inward FDI
Performance index. It can be calculated as the share of a countrys outward FDI in the worlds
FDI as a ratio of its share in the worlds GDP. In particular, the Outward FDI Performance index
of a country i, ONDi , can be written as:

INDi =

FDI i FDI w
,
GDPi GDPw

(2)

where FDI i FDI w is a country is outward FDI share in the worlds outward FDI,
and GDPi GDPw is a country is GDP share in the worlds GDP. It can be posited that this

measure of outward FDI performance captures two factors that shape performance of TNCs
headquartered in a given country. The first pertains to ownership advantages such as innovation,
know-how, managerial and organisational expertise, superior information, financial and natural
resources, market networks, and size. The other catalyst of outward FDI performance is
concerned with location factors whereby economic conditions are conducive to fragmenting
and/or disaggregating the production among home and host countries.
[Insert Tables 6 and 7 here]
The rankings of Thailand in terms of the Outward FDI Performance index are reported in
Table 6. Thailand was consistently ranked among the least competitive economies in the region
in terms of outward FDI performance. As of 2005-7, Thailands outward FDI performance was
ranked 66th and lacked far behind its neighbour countries like Singapore (10th), Malaysia (22nd),
the Philippines (49th), India (50th), Indonesia (52nd), and China (59th). Even though Thailands
outward FDI performance ranking picked up significantly from 84th in 2000-2, its pace has not
been able to catch up to the well-established outward FDI players like Singapore and Malaysia as
well as the emerging investors like Indonesia and the Philippines. Table 7 demonstrates this
point by reporting the top non-financial TNCs from Southeast Asia, ranked by the
Transnationality Index in 2008. Among the 16 TNCs from Southeast Asia which were ranked in
the top 100, only PTT Public Company Limited was placed on the table at 97th, whereas the rest
were occupied by TNCs from Malaysia and Singapore. Given the rapidly evolving landscape of
overseas opportunities, Thailand will soon exhaust opportunities in the conventional markets;
therefore, it is imperative for Thai companies to venture abroad and explore new markets and
sectoral opportunities beyond their comfort zones.
5. Policy Recommendations
The assessment of inward and outward FDI performance in Thailand yields the following policy
recommendations.
First and foremost, Thailand has adopted a rather passive strategy towards FDI.
Naturally, the sectors thriving on the passive approach to attracting FDI would be low skillintensive production like assembling and low-technology parts and components now that TNCs
tend to re-allocate labour-intensive, low-end stages of production in a labour-abundant location

like Thailand. This type of production fundamentally taps on lower production and labour costs
and rich production resources in a host country, yet renders modest backward and forward
linkages the vital elements of productivity spillovers from FDI with other related industries.
To tackle this, a new phase of FDI policy must be more pro-active and better targeted at highquality foreign investment in the sectors that generate the backward and forward linkages with
domestic firms through technology transfers, sharing of knowledge and know-how, training and
capacity building.
Second, limited infrastructure and legal and institutional quality, particularly weak rule of
law, contract enforcement, tax payment and investor protection, impose a serious constraint to
unleashing Thailands full inward FDI potential. These impediments have made setting up
operation plants in Thailand uneasy, if not unattractive, given drastic FDI competition from
China, India and, not least, Vietnam. More recently, unending political uncertainties and poor
water management that allowed the floods to do away with major industrial parks and disrupt
production of TNCs have perilously undermined foreign investors confidence in Thailand as a
regional production hub. Although the adverse effects tend to be transitional, the political and
natural shocks reflect poor infrastructure and low quality of institution which in turn exacerbate
Thailands competitiveness of FDI attraction. In 2012 and beyond, several infrastructure projects
that enhance water management and electricity supplies as well as a series of institutional and
political reforms are needed; Thailand will lose its ground as a major host of FDI otherwise.
Last but not least, in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, Thailand has experienced
a rapidly changing economic landscape. An economic recovery in traditional economic
powerhouses in the United States, the euro zone and, not least, Japan has been slow and patchy
due to unresolved sovereign debt setbacks. China and India at the same time have emerged
strongly and their large market size, cheap labour cost, and outward-looking economic policy
have diverted FDI flows away from the traditional hosts in Southeast Asia including Thailand. In
light of these developments, Thailand has to become less reliant on inward FDI flows from the
traditional sources, especially the European Union and Japan, which are inclined to deprive in
the years to come, and depends on outward FDI flows to flourish in new business opportunities
and new markets. Nevertheless, the deliberations of Thailands outward FDI underline that its
outward FDI performance is relatively limited, due perhaps to the lack of experience and insights

into new business opportunities overseas among Thai entrepreneurs. To overcome this, FDI
policies and initiatives have to shift away from attraction of inward FDI towards promotion of
outward FDI by putting in place incentives such as tax exemption, training and information
services, and necessary physical and institutional infrastructure.

Table 1: Thailands Selected Macroeconomic Indicators, 2001-2011.

Indicators
2001-2006
2007
62.56
63.04
Population (million persons)
GDP
GDP at constant 1988 price (billions baht)
3,563.21
4,259.0
Agriculture (billions baht)
345.45
369.7
Non-agriculture (billions baht)
3217.7
3,889.2
GNP per capita (baht: person)
94,293.83
124,377.1
Inflation
Headline Consumer Price Index (2007=100)
89.65
100.00
Core Consumer Price Index (2007=100)
95.83
100.00
External Account
Export (BOP basis) (billions USD)
89.86
151.2
Import (BOP basis) (billions USD)
80.43
124.6
Trade Balance (billions USD)
9.38
26.6
Current Account Balance (billions USD)
1.96
15.6
Net Capital Movement (billions USD)
1.45
-1.6
Balance of Payments (billions USD)
4.9
17.1
Government Finance
Cash Balance (% of GDP)
-0.51
-1.1
Total Public Debt (billions baht)
2,631.38
2,948.3
Domestic Debt (billions baht)
1,881.86
2,482.9
Monetary Statistics
Narrow Money (billions baht)
767.65
1,000.0
Broad Money (billions baht)
7,321.03
9,109.0
Interest Rate (1 yr. max.) (%)
2.58
2.38
41.24
34.56
Exchange Rate (average) (baht: 1 USD)
Source: Bank of Thailand.
Note: Indicators for the year 2011 are the average for January up to June.

2008
63.39

2009
63.53

2010
63.88

2011
n.a.

4,364.8
385.2
3,979.6
131,717.8

4,263.1
390.3
3,872.7
129,875.1

4,596.1
381.4
4,214.7
143,655.1

2,358.1
198.5
2,159.6
76,783.0

105.40
102.30

104.50
102.60

107.96
103.57

111.75
105.72

175.2
157.8
17.3
2.1
12.6
24.6

150.7
118.1
32.6
21.8
-2.6
24.1

193.6
161.4
32.2
13.6
23.9
31.3

176.6
153.7
22.9
10.4
n.a.
5.6

-0.2
3,118.9
2,692.7

-4.7
3,661.4
3,248.0

-2.0
3,917.4
3,539.0

n.a.
3,972.6
3,609.7

1,041.2
9,944.3
2.00
33.36

1,174.6
10,617.0
1.00
34.34

1,302.4
11,778.8
1.70
31.73

1,327.8
12,912.5
3.00
30.32

Table 2: Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Flows in Selected Countries, 1995-2010.

(US$ billion)
(Annual Average)

Economy

(% of gross fixed capital formation)

1995-2004

2005-2007

2008

2009

2010

1995-2004

2010

Inward

4.48

9.65

8.45

4.98

5.81

11.1

7.3

Outward

0.41

1.50

4.05

4.12

5.12

1.0

6.4

Inward

0.76

6.73

9.32

4.88

13.3

1.7

5.8

Outward

0.63

3.49

5.90

2.25

2.66

1.4

1.2

Inward

4.07

6.24

7.17

1.43

9.10

14.2

18.9

Outward

1.88

6.80

14.97

7.93

13.33

6.6

27.7

46.48

76.21

108.31

95.00

105.74

10.6

4.1

2.98

18.63

52.15

56.53

68.00

0.7

2.6

Inward

3.79

17.77

42.55

35.65

24.64

3.1

4.5

Outward

0.82

11.5

19.40

15.93

14.67

0.7

2.7

Inward

26.67

57.73

46.95

37.98

79.41

15.7

16.4

Outward

10.91

34.12

25.19

33.85

42.22

6.8

8.8

114.43

280.41

377.86

309.41

359.36

9.5

7.6

50.4

153.17

218.56

219.58

244.66

4.2

5.2

199.79

444.94

658.00

510.58

573.57

11.8

9.6

74.3

214.3

308.89

270.75

327.56

4.5

5.5

Inward

718.54

1,471.78

1,744.10

1,185.03

1,243.67

9.8

9.1

Outward

703.78

1,487.43

1,910.51

1,170.52

1,323.33

9.6

9.7

Thailand

Indonesia

Malaysia

China
Inward
Outward
India

Southeast Asia

Asia and Oceania

Inward
Outward
Developing countries
Inward
Outward
World

Source: UNCTAD, World Investment Report 2011, available at www.unctad.org/wir.

Table 3: Cross-border Merger and Acquisition in Selected Countries, 2005-2010.

(US$ billion)
Sales (net)

Economy

2005-2007

2008

Purchases (net)
2009

2010

(Annual Average)

2005-2007

2008

2009

2010

(Annual Average)

Thailand

1.84

0.14

0.35

0.46

- 0.02

1.42

0.87

2.86

Indonesia

2.76

2.07

1.33

1.67

0.34

0.91

- 2.59

0.89

Malaysia

3.54

2.78

0.35

3.44

2.76

9.75

3.27

2.31

China

9.28

5.36

10.90

5.97

4.49

37.94

21.49

29.20

India

3.12

10.43

6.05

5.54

12.56

13.48

0.29

26.42

Southeast Asia

11.66

22.74

12.91

10.39

14.35

18.92

4.33

14.00

Asia and Oceania

59.14

68.17

38.30

45.73

69.95

95.17

67.53

78.05

Developing Countries

84.45

104.81

39.08

82.81

109.47

105.85

73.98

96.95

703.43

706.54

249.73

338.84

703.43

706.54

249.73

338.84

World

Source: UNCTAD, World Investment Report 2011, available at www.unctad.org/wir.

Table 4: Country Rankings by Inward FDI Performance Index and Inward FDI Potential Index,
2008-2010.
Economy
Singapore
Vietnam
Malaysia
Indonesia
Thailand
China
India
Philippines

Inward FDI Performance

2008
2009
2010
61
20
9
20
22
22
82
103
46
111
117
79
84
84
83
97
83
86
80
67
97
122
108
116

Economy
Singapore
China
Malaysia
Thailand
Vietnam
India
Philippines
Indonesia

Inward FDI Potential

2008
2009
2010
4
6
30
27
37
35
63
56
77
73
86
79
81
82
89
84
-

Source: UNCTAD, World Investment Report 2011, available at www.unctad.org/wir.

Note: (i) The ranking covers 141 economies; and (ii) The potential index is based on 12 economic and policy
variables.

Table 5: Ease of Doing Business in Thailand, rankings in the East Asia & Pacific region.
Topic Rankings
Starting a business
Dealing with construction permits
Getting electricity
Registering property
Getting credit
Protecting investors
Paying taxes
Trading across borders
Enforcing contracts
Resolving insolvency
Overall ease of doing business

2011
97
14
8
18
64
12
94
19
24
57
16

2012
78
14
9
28
67
13
100
17
24
51
17

Change in Rank
19
No change
1
10
3
1
6
2
No change
4
1

Source: Doing Business, the World Bank, available at http://www.doingbusiness.org/rankings.

Table 6: Country Rankings by Outward FDI Performance Index, 2000-2007.

Economy
Singapore
Malaysia
Philippines
India
Indonesia
China
Thailand
Vietnam

2000-2
5
29
122
63
80
59
84
n.a.

Outward FDI Performance

2003-5
2005-7
12
10
29
22
60
49
65
50
42
52
61
59
70
66
89
84

Source: UNCTAD, World Investment Report 2011, available at www.unctad.org/wir.

Note: (i) The ranking covers 125 economies.

Table 7: Top Non-financial TNCs from Southeast Asia, ranked by the Transnationality Index,
2008.
Rankings Corporation
Home Country Industry
TNI
23
Axiata Group Bhd
Malaysia
Telecommunications
67.7
26
Flextronics International Ltd.
Singapore
Electrical & electronic equipment
65.2
29
Singtel Ltd.
Singapore
Telecommunications
63.2
33
Capitaland Limited
Singapore
Construction and real estate
60.9
34
Wilmar International Limited
Singapore
Food, beverages and tobacco
58.4
40
Fraser & Neave Limited
Singapore
Food, beverages and tobacco
54.7
45
Neptune Orient Lines Ltd.
Singapore
Transport and storage
52.3
47
Tanjong Public Limited Company
Malaysia
Pharmaceuticals
49.5
50
Genting Berhad
Malaysia
Other consumer services
47.9
51
YTL Corp. Berhad
Malaysia
Utilities (Electricity, gas and water) 47.8
55
Sime Darby Berhad
Malaysia
Diversified
45.7
66
Keppel Corporation Limited
Singapore
Diversified
38.3
79
Petronas - Petroliam Nasional Bhd
Malaysia
Petroleum expl./ref./distr.
29.6
84
San Miguel Corporation
Philippines
Food, beverages and tobacco
21.7
97
PTT Public Company Limited
Thailand
Petroleum
10.0
Source: UNCTAD/Erasmus University Database.
Note: (i) All data are based on the companies' annual reports; (ii) TNI, the Transnationlity Index, is calculated as the
average of the following three ratios: foreign assets to total assets, foreign sales to total sales and foreign
employment to total employment; and (iii) Industry classification for companies follows the United States Standard
Industrial Classification as used by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Figure 1: Net Flow of Foreign Direct Investment in Thailand, 2011.

Source: Bank of Thailand.

Figure 2: Shares of Net FDI Flows in Thailand by Countries.

Source: Bank of Thailand.

Figure 3: Net FDI Flows in Thailand vis--vis ASEAN countries (million US$).

Source: Bank of Thailand.

Figure 4: Net FDI Flows in Thailand by Sectors (million US$).

Source: Bank of Thailand.