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Published on December 19, 2007

"However, that does not imply bad economic cir-cumstances, because new businesses still registered in the Kingdom," Business Development Department director-general Kanissorn Navanugraha said yesterday.

Some businesses also expanded, because they saw good opportunities here, he said.

Last month alone witnessed a drop of 5.8 per cent to 3,372 companies with

registered capital of Bt9 billion.

A total of 1,199 businesses raised their capital by Bt31.14 billion last month. Retailers and wholesalers, motorcycle garages, manufacturers and real-estate firms performed effectively in increasing their capital investment, he said.

The department is developing a one-day business registration service.

It will also next April reduce the required number of individuals to register a new firm from seven to three.

Last month, 962 firms closed down, up 3.14 per cent on year, most of them in the construction, property and retail and wholesale sectors.

Of the 540,422 registered companies in operation, the top three industries are construction, real estate and "other services".

Business licences were withdrawn from 4,216 companies for not showing any financial transactions or business moves for three straight years, Kanissorn added.

Petchanet Pratruangkrai

 The Nation