The number of new business registrations fell below the target of 80,000 last year, attributed to the absence of support measures.
Yesterday the Commerce Ministry's Business Development Department reported the number of new business registrations tallied 5,539 in December, a significant drop of 35% from the same month in 2017, with full-year registration figures down 3% to 72,109.
Registered capital in December decreased 74% to 38.7 billion baht, resulting in a drop in the total registered capital for the entire year by 28% to 374 billion in 2018.
Vuttikrai Leewiraphan, director-general of the department, said apart from the absence of stimulus to lure new businesses, December tends to be a low season for new business registration.
In 2017, the Finance Ministry introduced a number of support measures to promote new business registration, such as the exemption of the specific business tax, duty stamp and land transaction fee.
As a result, the number of new businesses registered with the Commerce Ministry in 2017 hit a five-year high, in addition to a recovering economy, growing tourism, the government's massive investment in infrastructure projects and the state welfare scheme.
New business registrations tallied 74,517 in 2017, up 16% from 64,200 in 2016.
The total registered capital of new companies also surged 119% year-on-year to 519 billion baht in 2017.
Mr Vuttikrai said the top three sectors for new business registration in 2018 were building and construction, property and restaurants.
The department reported 2,482 companies were liquidated in December, down 4% from the same month a year earlier. The total number of liquidated companies amounted to 21,775 last year, up 2% from a year before.
The department forecasts the number of new business registrations this year is likely to be on par with last year's figures, or about 70,000, with the country's economic growth the key driver.
He warned negative factors such as the world's economic uncertainties, international trade prospects and domestic political clarity also warrant a close watch.
