Thailand has officially approved a significant investment project by Western Digital, amounting to 23.5 billion baht (approximately $693 million), aimed at expanding hard disk production within the country.
According to Reuters, this decision was announced by Thailand's Board of Investment (BOI) on Monday, highlighting the growing demand for cloud technology and data centers.
The BOI stated that this investment is projected to enhance the Thai economy by generating an additional 200 billion baht in exports annually and creating around 10,000 new jobs.
Currently, Western Digital's facility in Thailand employs about 28,000 people and is part of a region that produces around 80 percent of the world's hard disks.
Over the past decade, Thailand has approved a total of 82.6 billion baht in investments within the hard disk industry. In 2023, competitor Seagate also expanded its operations with a 16 billion baht investment.
Looking ahead, Thailand anticipates overall investment applications to reach 800 billion baht for 2024.