Tesla, Google, Microsoft planning $5 bn investment in Thailand, bolster existing manufacturing, says Thai PM

Thailand’s Prime Minister, Srettha Thavisin, announced on Sunday that the country is poised to secure investments of at least $5 billion from tech giants Tesla, Google, and Microsoft. During a press briefing in Bangkok, Prime Minister Srettha revealed, “Tesla is considering the establishment of an electric vehicle manufacturing facility, while both Microsoft and Google are exploring the possibility of establishing data centres.” However, it was not clarified whether this $5 billion investment is a collective commitment from these companies or separate contributions from each. At the time of this announcement, Tesla, Google, and Microsoft had not issued immediate responses to media inquiries. Prime Minister Srettha disclosed this information during his post-UN General Assembly address in New York, where he had previously engaged in discussions with executives from these companies earlier in the week. This prospective influx of foreign investments stands to provide a significant boost to Thailand’s economy, which has been grappling with lower-than-anticipated growth projections for the year at 2.8 per cent, largely due to a decline in exports. It’s noteworthy that Srettha had a conversation with Tesla CEO Elon Musk just last week, primarily centred on the electric vehicle industry. Thailand, recognized as Asia’s fourth-largest automobile manufacturing centre, has been actively incentivizing electric vehicle and battery manufacturers while also offering tax incentives to domestic electric vehicle consumers to maintain its status as a regional automotive hub.