BANGKOK, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Thailand expects to receive investment applications worth at least 1 trillion baht in 2013, higher than the previous target of 700 billion baht, the authorities said on Thursday.

The estimate was projected from investment applications from January to April this year which already reached 500 billion baht, according to Industry Minister Prasert Boonchaisuk.

He attributed the positive outlook to Thai and foreign investors' confidence in the country's strong fundamentals and pending mega-projects.

The Thai government plans to spend 350 billion baht on a comprehensive water management scheme and 2 trillion baht on infrastructure construction projects, which will give strong impetus to the country's economic growth in the coming decade.

Meanwhile, Prasert said there were 28 projects proposed by the private sector to set up industrial areas in the country, expected to be complete in 2015, among which 18 came from small and medium- sized enterprises with a total investment budget of 21.2 billion baht, creating 530,000 jobs.