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Thailand is targeting up to 1 trillion baht in actual investment under the Thailand FastPass scheme, as the government seeks to keep investment at the centre of its economic agenda despite tighter budget constraints.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas said the government remained committed to making this year a “year of investment”, even though the share of investment spending in the 2027 budget had declined.
Speaking at the 29th anniversary event of the National Press Council of Thailand at the Royal River Hotel on July 4, Ekniti said the government could still raise overall investment by mobilising funding outside the normal budget process.
He said the investment drive would rely on several channels, including:
Ekniti said these tools would help reduce the need for direct government borrowing while keeping investment flowing into the economy.
As chairman of the Board of Investment, or BOI, Ekniti said he had set a target for Thailand FastPass to generate around 900 billion to 1 trillion baht in actual FDI. The goal is to make the scheme a key force in supporting Thailand’s economy and strengthening the country’s long-term competitiveness.
Thailand FastPass was launched in June to speed up approval procedures for high-impact investment projects, with the government presenting it as a mechanism to move projects more quickly from approval to real operations. The scheme involves multiple agencies and is designed to cut regulatory approval times for strategic investment projects.
Ekniti said the next step was to ensure that approved projects translated into real spending, not only paper approvals. Under the FastPass conditions, promoted investors will be required to put in at least 20% of their actual investment within this year.
The government will also push the Skill Bridge project as part of the wider investment strategy. The project is intended to support technology transfer and upgrade the skills of Thai workers so they can meet demand from new industries.
Ekniti said the lower investment ratio in the budget reflected the limited fiscal space currently available to the government. However, he said the figures also reflected improved transparency in how the budget was presented.
According to Ekniti, some recurring expenditure that had previously not been clearly separated has now been disclosed more transparently. This has pushed up the visible share of regular expenditure and made the investment budget appear lower in numerical terms.
He said the government would compensate for the tighter budget position by driving more private-sector and state-enterprise investment, while using off-budget mechanisms to maintain economic momentum.
The broader policy direction is in line with Thailand’s push to lift its long-term growth potential. Ekniti has said separately that Thailand aims to raise its annual economic growth potential to 3% by 2030, supported by investment and structural reforms.
The Nation Editorial Team
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