Chinese entrepreneurs are expected to make new investments worth 90 billion baht as they are increasingly concerned about the impact of the incoming US president's plan to impose high tariffs on Chinese exports, says the Board of Investment (BoI).
They are interested in battery manufacturing for electric vehicles (EVs), the production of equipment for data centres and biodegradable packaging.
"This is an important time to draw large investment projects from companies specialising in high technology," said Narit Therdsteerasukdi, secretary-general of the BoI.
"Their investment in Thailand can lead to an improvement of Thai industries because batteries and high-tech electronic components are needed by various industries."
Mr Narit was speaking after Deputy Prime Minster Pichai Chunhavajira and BoI officials visited Shanghai from Nov 19-22 to meet Chinese business people and introduce them to investment privilege packages in Thailand.
There are at least six companies showing interest in investing in Thailand under a combined investment budget of 90 billion baht.
Two of them want to produce battery cells to serve the growth in EVs, energy storage and clean energy industries, said Mr Narit.
Three companies will focus on designing and producing computer chips and other necessary equipment for data centres and telecommunication. They want to use Thailand as a base from which to export their products.
The investment of these three companies will lead to the employment of engineers as well as help Thailand develop artificial intelligence technology, said Mr Narit.
The other company intends to construct a bio-packaging factory using bagasse as a raw material to produce eco-friendly packaging for food products.
This business not only makes use of agricultural waste but also adds value to bagasse, said Mr Narit.
During the trip to Shanghai, Mr Pichai's entourage also held discussions with the Chinese energy and battery industry association over ways to deal with used batteries.
Battery recycling technology and a law to regulate the removal of used batteries are required as Thailand will see the number of used batteries increase in the future, said Mr Narit.