Tourism, which accounts for about 10% of GDP, is expected to help prop up the economy. The investment agency replaced previous policies in 2014 by gearing its incentives to more value-added sectors.

The economy only grew 1% in the third quarter of the year, up from 0.6% in the same period last year. The government has accelerated approvals for investment projects and offered various incentives to help support the struggling economy as exports and domestic demand remain sluggish. The central bank expects zero export growth this year partly due to a slowdown in China's economy.

Since taking power in a May 2014 coup, the country's military rulers have struggled to kick-start Southeast Asia's second-largest economy.

The agency says it would try to clear its backlog in 2016.

Second, other applications needed the input of several government agencies. Third, some large projects required approval from committees.

First, some applications were submitted prematurely or too early.

Hirunya Suchinai, the BoI's secretary-general told reporters that the government investment agency did not meet its 2015 investment target for a variety of reasons.

JAPAN FIRST, SINGAPORE SECOND Foreign direct investment (FDI) from Japan in 2015 remained the highest in Thailand, with total investment approved from Japan valued at more than 144 billion baht for 426 projects. Singapore came a distant second with 122 projects approved valued at 39.9 billion baht between January and November.

12/01/2016 Reuters News agency The Board of Investment (BoI) said on Tuesday it approved applications worth about 800 billion baht last year, missing its target of 1.4 trillion baht by nearly 43%, but up from 724.7 billion baht in 2014. The BoI said 1,038 project applications were recorded in 2015 versus 3,469 in 2014, a more than 50% drop.

The new policy favours projects that employ high-technology, encourage innovation, or strengthen Thailand's role as a regional and international trading hub. Despite the great fall, almost 70% of the approved projects were in the new targeted sectors and the BoI had expected FDI inflow in 2015 to take a hit.

Investment from the United States was also down heavily. China tumbled 21% to 13.3 billion baht. CHANGES IN BOI TARGETED SECTORS The BoI says the large fall in investment was due to new investment incentive policy, which became effective in 2015.

13/01/2016 AFP News agency & Nikkei News Foreign investment plummeted last year with total investment applied for by foreign companies between January and November 2015 plunged 78% from a year earlier to 93.8 billion baht. Thailand faces stiff (competition)competitionfrom increasingly attractive neighbours like Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar. Nearby Vietnam actually reported a record amount of foreign investment in 2015 and the fastest growth rate in five years at 6.68%. FALL IN JAPANESE, CHINESE, US & EU INVESTMENT Particularly worrying for Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is a significant drop off in investment from Japan -- historically the largest investor in Thailand by far -- which slumped a whopping 81%. EU investment also plunged from 86.7 billion baht in 2014 to just 2 billion baht last year.

While Vietnam saw record investment with fastest growth in 5-years in 2015, Japanese investment in Thailand fell 81%. Temporary glitch from policy change says Board of Investment (BoI).

A file photo of a bridge across the Chao Phraya River in May last year to support the Bang Sue-Tha Phra section of the subway’s Blue Line. Investment applications fell 43% short of the Board of Investment’s target in 2015. (Photo by Pattarapong Chatpattarasill)

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Vocabulary:

accelerate : to happen or make something happen at a faster rate - เร่ง, เร่งความเร็ว, เพิ่มความเร็ว

account for : to be a particular amount or part of something -

actually : used for stressing what is really true or what really happened - ตามความเป็นจริง

adj (noun): connected with soldiers or the armed forces - ในทางทหาร,เกี่ยวกับทหาร

agency (noun): a government department that provides a particular service - หน่วยงานราชการ

application (noun): a formal request for permission to do or have something; a piece of paper used to apply for something - การสมัคร, การขอ, ใบสมัคร

apply (verb): to make a formal request for permission to do or have something - ขอ, สมัคร

approval : official permission - การอนุมัต

approve : to give official permission - อนุมัต

approved : given official agreement or permission - ได้รับการรับรองแล้ว

attractive : having features or qualities that make something seem interesting and worth having - น่าดึงดูด

backlog : a large amount of things that should have done or dealt with before and must be done now - งานคั่งค้าง, งานที่ยังทำไม่เสร็จ

Board of Investment (BOI) (noun): an agency of the Government of Thailand to promote investment in the country - สำนักงานคณะกรรมการส่งเสริมการลงทุน

central bank (noun): the main government bank in a country that controls the supply of loans (credit) and the supply of money in the country and provides financial services to the government and other banks - ธนาคารแห่งชาติ

clear (verb): to move things away from a place or area - ทำให้ว่าง๒, ลบล้าง

committee : a group of people who are chosen, usually by a larger group, to make decisions or to deal with a particular subject - คณะกรรมการ

competition : a situation in which people or organizations compete, i.e., try to be more successful or better than somebody else who is trying to do the same as you - การแข่งขัน

coup : the seizure of power in a country by a group of people, usually members of the armed forces - รัฐประหาร

delay (noun): causing to happen at a later time; happening at a later time than expected - การเลื่อน, ช้ากว่าปกติ

demand (noun): the need and desire of people to buy goods - อุปสงค์

domestic : inside the country being talked about - ภายในประเทศ

due to : because of - เนื่องจาก

effective : officially begun to be used ; to take effect - มีผล

employ : to use - ใช้

encourage : to cause someone to be more likely to happy - กระตุ้น

export (noun): something sold and transported to another country - สินค้าออก

favour : something you do for someone in order to help them - ความช่วยเหลือ, ความเอื้อเฟื้อ

foreign direct investment (noun): FDI, money that people or companies of one country invest in another country by buying property, building factories, buying businesses, etc -

geared towards : made to work with..., made to solve a kind of problem ... -

growth (noun): economic growth, an increase in economic activity - การเติบโต

historically : in the past -

hub : the central and most important part of a particular place or activity - จุดศูนย์กลาง, จุดรวม

incentive : something that makes you want to do something or work harder, because you know that you will benefit by doing this - สิ่งกระตุ้น

innovation : the introduction of new things, ideas or ways of doing something; a new idea, way of doing something, etc. that has been introduced or discovered - นวัตกรรม, การคิดขึ้นใหม่, สิ่งที่นำเข้ามาใหม่

input (noun): help in the form of ideas, advice, or information, used in a process or in making a decision - ข้อมูล, การสนับสนุน

international : connected with or involving two or more countries - นานาชาติ, สากล, ระหว่างประเทศ

investment (noun): the act of investing money in something - การลงทุน

investor : a person or organization that invests money, i.e., uses money with the aim of making a profit from it, for example by buying property or buying shares in a company - นักลงทุน

kick-start : to start quickly and suddenly, like kicking the starting pedal of a motorcycle -

missing : not hitting or achieving or reaching the goal or target you wanted to achieve or hit - พลาดเป้า

neighbour : someone (or towns, cities, countries) who lives or is located near you - เพื่อนบ้าน

particularly : especially, or more than usual - โดยเฉพาะ

partly (adv): in part, but not completely - บางส่วน

period : a length of time in the life of a particular person or in the history of a particular country - ยุค, ช่วง, กาล

plummet : to fall suddenly; to suddenly become much lower - ตกฮวบลง

plunge : to fall quickly from a high position - ดิ่งลงมาจากท้องฟ้า

policy (noun): a set of plans or action agreed on by a government, political party, business, or other group - นโยบาย

prematurely : too early or before the scheduled time - ก่อนกำหนด

previous : happening or existing before the event or object that you are talking about - แต่ก่อน, เมื่อก่อน

project : a planned piece of work that is designed to find information about something, to produce something new, or to improve something - โครงการ

prop up : to support - พยุง, ยัน

quarter (noun): three months of the year on the official calendar of the government or companies - ไตรมาส

rate : the level or speed at which something happens or changes, or the amount or number of times it happens or changes in a particular period - อัตรา

reason (noun): why something happened or exists - เหตุผล

record (verb): to make a written account of something that is kept so that it can be looked at and used in the future - บันทึก, รายงาน

record : the best or most ever achieved - สถิติ

regional : of or relating to a region - เกี่ยวกับภูมิภาค

remain (verb): to stay in the same place; to not leave - ยังอยู่, พักอยู่, รออยู่

reporter : someone whose job is to write articles or make broadcasts about events in the news - ผู้สื่อข่าว, นักข่าว

require : to make somebody do or have something, especially because it is necessary according to a particular law or set of rules - บังคับใช้ (กฎหมาย) กำหนด

role : the position or purpose that someone or something has in a situation, organisation, society or relationship - บทบาท

secretary-general (noun): the person who is in charge of the department that deals with the running of a large international or political organisation - เลขาธิการ, เลขาธิการใหญ่

sector : a part of a country’s economy or business activity - ภาคเศรษฐกิจของประเทศ

significant : important - สำคัญ

slowdown (noun): when the economy moves more slowly and worker incomes and company profits suffer and increase more slowly -

sluggish : not performing or reacting as well as usual - (เศรษฐกิจ) ที่ซบเซา

slump : to fall suddenly - ตกต่ำมาก

stiff (competition) (adj): difficult competition; difficult to win - การแข่งขันที่รุนแรง

struggle (verb): to try hard to do something that you find very difficult - พยายาม; ต่อสู้

support : to give help, encouragement or sympathy to somebody - สนับสนุน, เป็นกำลังใจ

target : a particular number or amount that you want to achieve - เป้าหมาย

total : including everything; being the amount or number after everyone or everything is counted or added together - ทั้งหมด

trade : the buying and selling of goods and services - การค้าขาย

tumble : to fall down - ล้ม,ล้มลง,ตกลง,หกคะเมน

value : how much something is worth in money or other goods for which it can be exchanged - มูลค่า

value-added (adj.): the "value" that is added to a product by a company during one stage in making the product - มูลค่าเพิ่ม

various : several different - หลากหลาย, ซึ่งแตกต่างกัน

whopping (adj): very large - ใหญ่โต

worth : having a value in money, etc - มีค่า, มีมูลค่า