Thailand's Rankings

    For years, Thailand has been among the most successful countries in Asia for attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). In the ever-competitive investment environment that characterizes the 21st century, Thailand has continued to remain attractive to foreign investors.

    For more than three decades, successive Thai governments have recognized that the private sector in Thailand has been the main facilitator of growth and the government has actively played a promoting and supporting role. The Thai government has taken a consistently favorable stance towards foreign investors, recognizing their importance to Thailand's economic and technological development.

    In fact, government approval to invest in Thailand is not even needed unless the special incentives offered by the Board of Investment are being applied for, and most sectors of the Thai economy are open to foreign investors.

    The combination of factors and the continued efforts of government agencies to reduce ‘red-tape’ and facilitate investors has led to Thailand being among the highest-ranked countries for FDI by independent observers, as well as by foreign investors.

A few quick facts about Thailand: The combination of factors and the continued efforts of government agencies to reduce ‘red-tape’ and facilitate investors have led to Thailand being among the highest-ranked countries for FDI by independent observers, as well as by foreign investors.

Thailand has the world’s:
    33^rd   biggest economy
    24^th   biggest economies by purchasing power
    27^th   biggest exporter
    16^th   largest manufacturing output
    35^th   largest services output
    12^th   largest agriculture output
Source: The Economist’s Pocket World in Figures, 2015

In addition, in 2014, Thailand was:
    World’s #1 rice exporter (by quantity)
    World’s #2 pineapple exporter
    World’s #2 sugar exporter
    World’s #1 cassava exporter
    World’s #1 rubber exporter in
    World’s #6 rubber tires exports (by value)
    World’s #7 computer device exports (by value)
    World’s #9 computer accessories exports (by value)
    World’s #7 motorcycle exports (by value)
    World’s #5 truck exports (by value)
    World’s largest producer of HDDs
Source: http://www.worldstopexports.com, https:// atlas. media. mit. edu/ en/ profile/ hs/ 0714/ , THE THAI RUBBER ASSOCIATION

Now, let’s see how Thailand ranks with the rest of the world.

Highly Ranked by International Organizations Every year, the World Bank conducts a study of the ease of doing business in countries around the world. It produces an annual report that looks at domestic and medium-sized enterprises and quantitatively measures regulations affecting them, covering nine indicators for 189 economies. Ease of Doing Business 2016 ranked Thailand #49 in the world, and #2 among emerging economies in East Asia.
You can find more information about Ease of Doing Business 2016 at http://www.doingbusiness.org/reports/global-reports/ doing-business-2016.

    In addition, in its 2014 World Investment Report, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) ranked Thailand the 8th best FDI host economy in the world for 2014-2016.
More information about UNCTAD rankings and publications can be found at http://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/webdiaeia2015d4_en.pdf

    When the internationally-respected Bloomberg News asked Multinational Companies (MNCs) to select the most-promising emerging nations in which to invest in 2015, Thailand ranked as the 11^th most promising emerging market for 2014-2016.
The full report can be downloaded from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-11/gulf-nations-defy-oil-rout-to-top-list-of-best-emerging-markets

Good Corporate Governance Thailand is recognized as a leader in corporate governance, and is applying similar principles to the public sector to enhance transparency and accountability. In the Asia Corporate Governance Association’s seventh joint report, issued with CLSA, on corporate governance in Asia, the 200-page report ranks 11 Asian markets on macro CG quality and 944 companies on their internal governance systems. Thailand ranks fourth. “Thailand is a clear leader in corporate governance among Asian economies and emerging economies. To maintain that leadership, Thailand must ensure the effectiveness of the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Bank of Thailand (BOT) and address raising the level of corporate governance for state owned enterprises.” (2013) Mr. David Robinett, Senior Private Sector Development Specialist, World Bank

Mercer 2015 Cost of Living Survey The Mercer Human Resource Consulting Cost of Living Survey-Worldwide Rankings 2015, showed that Bangkok, Thailand, ranking of #45 indicates Bangkok's cost of living was far lower than Singapore (4^th most expensive city in the world), Hong Kong(#2), Beijing(#7), Shanghai(#6), Seoul (#8) and many other major cities in Asia.
For more information about the Cost Of Living Survey, please visit https://www.imercer.com/content/cost-of-living.aspx

CBRE Office Rents and Occupancy Costs (Q2 2015) Bangkok continued to rank as the least expensive market in Asia for prime real estate with average prime rent of US$30/sq.ft./annum.
The full CBRE report is available online at http://www.cbre.co.th/en/ResearchCentre/ Research/ Asia-Pacific-Office-MarketView-Q2-2015, and other reports about real estate in Bangkok, the region and the world can be downloaded from http://www.cbre.co.th/en/ResearchCentre/ ListResearchTitle/ 3

ASEAN CG Scoreboard 2013/2014 The ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard was introduced in 2011. The scorecard is a corporate governance initiative of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), under the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum (ACMF) Implementation Plan for the development of an integrated capital market, to complement other ACMF initiatives and promote ASEAN as an asset class.

    Overall, Thailand’s mean score is the highest among the participating countries. Singapore has shown the largest improvement in its mean score—29%—from 55.67 points in 2012 to 71.68 points in 2013.
The full report can be downloaded at: http://www.adb.org/publications/asean-corporate-governance-scorecard-country-reports-and-assessments-2013-2014

2015 Business Traveller Asia-Pacific Awards In its 2015 Business Traveller Asia-Pacific Awards, the readers of Business Traveller ranked Bangkok the Best Leisure Destination in Asia-Pacific, and #2 for Best Business City in Southeast Asia.

Last updated: November 2015