The Commerce Ministry is optimistic about new business registrations this year, driven by a rebound in the tourism sector and related business, e-commerce, and electric vehicles (EV) and related businesses.
Auramon Supthaweethum, director-general of the Business Development Department, said new business registrations for the first two months of 2024 rose by 1.57% to 17,270, with combined registered capital of 46 billion baht, up 14.5%.
The top three categories of business registrations were general construction, real estate and restaurants.
The increase was attributed to the economic recovery, a larger number of tourism-related businesses resuming after the pandemic, the expansion of private consumption and exports, and the implementation of major public infrastructure projects in line with the government's bio-, circular and green economic model, she said.
The department is monitoring inflation, interest rates and household debt to evaluate the economy over the long term.
The department expects new business registrations in the first quarter of 2024 to total 23,000-27,000, with the full-year tally at 90,000-95,0000, up 5-15%.
New e-commerce businesses registered in the first two months of this year totalled 479, up 32%, with a combined registered capital of 555 million baht, rising 32.9% year-on-year.
More e-commerce businesses are expected to register as a result of the Revenue Department's requirement for electronic platforms to set up "electronic special accounts" that report revenue from their online merchants, effective from Jan 1, 2024.
As of Feb 29, there were 905,544 active legal entities with a combined registered capital of 21.7 trillion baht, consisting of 703,449 limited companies (77.7%), 200,644 limited partnerships and ordinary partnerships (22.2%), and 1,451 public limited companies (0.1%).
Mrs Auramon said the department anticipates growth in new business registrations this year based on higher investment in the EV industry by both foreign and domestic investors in three sectors: electrical control systems, electronic equipment systems and charging stations.
In 2024, the Foreign Business Committee granted permission under the Foreign Business Act to 14 investors from Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Japan and the US with a combined registered capital of 22 billion baht.
