Businesses related to lifestyle, accommodation, tourism and environmental protection are expected to maintain their healthy growth momentum this year, according to a recent study by the Commerce Ministry.
According to Deputy Commerce Minister Sinit Lertkrai, the study by the Business Development Department identified eight outstanding sectors that maintained promising growth prospects this year.
They largely cater to consumer convenience after the loosening of Covid-19 control measures, including companies related to tourism recovery, environmental protection and innovation.
The eight sectors with outstanding prospects comprise: frozen food; health and beauty; medicinal herbs; pet-related businesses; tourism-related businesses; meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (Mice); environmental production and management-related businesses; and electric vehicles.
In 2022, the frozen food category registered 99 new businesses, up 87% from a year earlier, with total registered capital of 321 million baht.
Registrations of health and beauty businesses such as medical services, spas, and beauty and exercise venues rose 70% last year to 1,262, with total registered capital of 2.79 billion baht.
A total of 2,126 new medicinal herb businesses were registered last year, up 8% from 2021, with total registered capital of 4.99 billion baht.
New registrations for pet-related businesses such as pet care and pet food tallied 468, up 36%, with total registered capital of 2.79 billion baht.
According to Mr Sinit, last year there were 94,035 existing operators of these outstanding businesses, with a combined registered capital of 1.33 trillion baht.
Thosapone Dansuputra, director-general of the Business Development Department, said earlier new business registrations are expected to outstrip the government target in 2022, driven by the country's economic recovery.
The department expects new business registrations in 2022 to reach 76,000, exceeding the target of 68,000-72,000 and the 63,340 registrations issued in 2021.
According to the department, new business registrations tallied 72,480 in the first 11 months of 2022, up 4.66% from the same period the previous year, with registered capital rising by 93.2% to 409 billion baht.
For the period, 16,096 firms ceased operations, up 18.2% year-on-year, with registered capital totalling 105 billion baht, down by 71%.
The top three new business registration categories were general building construction, real estate and restaurants.
Restaurants ranked in the top three for new registrations for the 10th consecutive month, in line with the economic recovery, higher levels of travel and the country's reopening, according to the department.