BOI approves another 15 projects worth over 40,000 million Baht

 

August 19, 2014 at 15.00 hrs, at the Royal Thai Army Club Thewes, Board of Investment (BOI) Secretary General Udom Wongwiwat revealed outcomes of the BOI meeting chaired by Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, Chief of National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), that this was the 3rd BOI meeting since the appointment of BOI members by NCPO on June 8, 2014.

 

The BOI meeting today approved another 15 projects related to alternative energy, automotive parts, and sewage energy production worth 40,538 million Baht. This makes 121 projects in total worth 318,839.5 million Baht so far that have been approved by the BOI. Amendment of 2 projects was also approved at the 3rd meeting.

 

In addition, the meeting approved in principle the “7-Year Investment Promotion Strategy (draft) (2015-2021)” as proposed by the BOI Office.

 

Promotion of investment under the new Strategy will be more focused and prioritized, rather than broad-based as before. List of business categories to be promoted was also reviewed in line with the new Strategy which will prioritize industries that support Thai economic restructuring for the country to become a higher-income economy with long-term and sustainable growth.

 

Seven categories of eligible industries remain unchanged except that industries with high technology, high value-added, R&D or design, and environmental friendly will be prioritized. The 7 categories are: 1) Agriculture and Agricultural Products; 2) Mining, Ceramics and Basic Metals; 3) Light Industry; 4) Metal Products, Machinery and Transport Equipment; 5) Electronic Industry and Electric Appliances; 6) Chemicals, Paper and Plastics; and 7) Services and Public Utilities

 

There will be 2 types of incentives, that is, activity-based incentives and merit-based incentives. The latter includes businesses that put more investment in activities for national interests, such as R&D, high-level skill development, development of sub-contractors, and spread of economic prosperity to the regions.

 

Under the new Strategy, BOI’s zone-based incentives (1-3) will be abolished, and will be replaced by promotion of new regional clusters to create new investment concentration in each region and stronger value chains.

 

At the same time, BOI will place importance in both inbound and outbound investments, a mission to go beyond restriction of domestic resources and seek new business opportunities for the Thai private sector.

 

Target countries are identified as:

No. 1: Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos

No. 2: China, India, and other ASEAN countries

No. 3: Middle East, South Asia, and Africa

 

BOI Secretary General added that the meeting approved in principle measures on SME competitive enhancement to enhance SME capacity and strength in order to be more competitive at an international level.

 

The meeting also approved in principle measures to improve productivity and promote more investment through: 1) replacement of machinery for energy saving; 2) replacement of machinery for alternative energy usage; 3) replacement of machinery to reduce environmental impact; 4) replacement of machinery to improve productivity; and 5) more investment in R&D and engineering design to improve productivity.

 

Measures to promote investment in the 4 Southern Border provinces and 4 districts of Songkhla province were also approved in principle. Promotion will be broad-based in accordance with other measures for Special Development Zone in the South, and cover investment activities in Pattani, Yala, Narathiwas, Satun, as well as Songkhla’s Jana, Na Tawee, Saba Yoi, Tepa districts.

 

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