New businesses forming faster this year

The number of new businesses created in Thailand was greater during January than at any point since the first month of 2019, a clear sign that investors and entrepreneurs are optimistic about the Kingdom’s economic prospects going forward.

Thailand’s handling of the public health aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic has won praise from the United Nations and many medical experts worldwide. Preventive measures imposed for social distancing and limits on businesses and travel have taken a toll on the economy.

Now, as the Kingdom and many other countries are beginning to roll out their vaccination programs, businesses have started to pick up on a positive note. Analysts are forecasting that Thailand’s economy will grow by 2.8 percent this year. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has said that he believes the economy could and should perform better than the forecast.

Some entrepreneurs are sharing the Prime Minister’s optimism. A total of 7,283 new businesses registered with the Ministry of Commerce in January 2021, according to Thosapone Dansuputra, Director-General of the Business Development Department.

That represents a soaring 121 percent improvement over December 2020, a 4.91 percent rise from January 2020, and the largest number of new businesses since January 2019. Thailand detected its first case of the coronavirus near the end of January 2020.

More impressively, new businesses’ registered capital rose by 90.3 percent year-on-year in January to just over $1 billion.

From Ministry of Commerce’s data, the three leading sectors for new business registrations in January 2021 were building and construction (634), real estate (299) and transport and logistics (192). New building and construction businesses, in particular, represent a strong indicator that the economy is trending upward and jobs are being created.

Photo courtesy of: https://dsp.dip.go.th/th/category/