New businesses boom in April
New business registration rose 7% year-on-year in April, the highest in a decade, helped by the country’s growing economy and the ease of doing business.
The Commerce Ministry’s Business Development Department reported yesterday the number of new business registrations totalled 5,120 last month, with registered capital rising by 67% to 36.4 billion baht.
The top three categories for registrations were building construction and property, transport and logistics services, and restaurants.
In the first four months, new business registrations totalled 25,169, up 7% from the same period last year, with total registered capital of 54.9 billion baht.
“The department believes new business registrations will reach at least 75,000, and possibly 80,000, this year because of Thailand’s growing economy and the government’s ongoing efforts on the ease of doing business,” said Mrs Kulanee, citing the recent uptick in the IMF’s forecast for Thailand’s economic growth to 3.9% from 3.5% in 2018.
The IMF also increased its forecast on global import growth to 5.7% from 4.3% in 2018.
The cabinet on Feb 27 approved the Commerce Ministry’s ministerial regulations to charge new business registration fees at a flat rate, as suggested by the World Bank. The fee for a partnership business will be cut to 1,000 baht from 1,000-5,000 baht, and to 5,000 baht from 5,000-25,000 baht for limited companies.
New businesses that register online will get an additional 30% discount to encourage e-registration.
The Commerce Ministry estimated revenue from registration fees will drop to 300 million baht a year from 500 million as flat rates facilitate investors and cut private investment costs.
The new incentives became effective April 21.
The government’s aid package for low-income earners through the smart card scheme is also expected to help boost domestic consumption. The cabinet in January approved 35.7 billion baht for the second phase of the welfare scheme, aiming to raise 1 million people out of poverty. The government will allocate 35.7 billion baht to finance 34 projects.