Business registrations in Thailand up 8% in Jan-Nov 2013

BANGKOK, December 16 (TNA) - The Ministry of Commerce reports that business registrations in Thailand during January-November 2013 increased by about 8 per cent year-in-year although those in late this year have dropped due to impacts from ongoing domestic political protests. Caretaker Deputy Commerce Minister Nattawut Saikuar told journalists on Monday that the number of new business registrations in the first 11 months of this year stood at 64,396, an 8 per cent year-on-year increase. Nattawut said new business registrations amounted to 4,397 in November this year alone, a drop by 32 per cent year-on-year, with their registered capital totaling 25.45 billion baht. According to the caretaker deputy commerce minister, five kinds of businesses with the highest amounts of registrations in November this year include building construction, real estate development, machinery wholesale, restaurants and bars, as well as management counseling. The caretaker deputy commerce minister assessed that the number of newly-registered businesses this year should be about 68,000, instead of 70,000 as earlier anticipated, if the domestic political strife was dragged on, but the projected amount remains historically high and the number of newly-registered businesses next year should be close to this year. The caretaker deputy commerce noted that businesses registering for their closure in Thailand in November 2013, a year-on-year increase by 1 per cent. The caretaker deputy commerce minister revealed that as of November 30, 2013, there were 562,485 registered businesses in Thailand totally, comprising 382,759 limited companies, 1,036 public listed companies and 178,690 limited/ordinary partnerships, with their overall registered capitals of 10.74 trillion baht.(TNA)