BOI sets pace for new investment B
OI Secretary General Udom Wongviwatchai has been reflecting upon a record year of investment promotion applications in Thailand. By 20 December 2012 the Board had received applications valued at more than THB1.1 trillion. Japanese companies accounted for about 60 percent of the applications.
The Secretary General indicated that the increase in the percentage of Japanese investment was due in part to ‘decisions made following the March 2011 tsunami and earthquake that hit Japan and the subsequent energy problems that prompted some companies to look abroad’. Writing in the latest issue of the BOI publication Thailand Investment Review, Mr Wongviwatchai added that ‘with many Japanese companies having already invested in Thailand and having in place a linkage with supply chains the country seemed a natural overseas location. Japanese are familiar with Thai culture, religion and customs and find integration easy to accomplish. Additionally, the Yen continues to be very strong and has been a factor for some companies moving their operations into Thailand’. The BOI expects to attract more SMEs from Japan in 2013. Indeed, the secretary general believes that foreign investors will continue to look positively at Thailand as the government continues to stimulate the domestic economy and channel additional funds into infrastructure spending such as flood prevention projects. The BOI continues to focus upon industries such as automotive, electronics/electrical appliances and
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The Brief
Issue 1/2013
alternative energy and the organisation’s sustainable development policies, set to expire at the end of 2012, have been extended by one year. The secretary general is aware that investors are awaiting eagerly the announcement of BOI’s new investment policy, expected to be finalised in the first half of 2013 for implementation later in the year. The BOI is convening public meetings to discuss the new policy when both investors and members of the general can raise issues directly with the Secretary General and his senior team. The BOI is placing more emphasis upon what it calls ‘high-tech’ and ‘high-value’ industries, such as alternative energy, medical equipment and logistics, as it seeks to achieve the government’s goal of ‘transitioning Thailand’s economy from labour intensive to knowledge-based’. “The new policy will focus on attracting those industries that support Thailand’s move to become a knowledge-based economy, where economic growth is determined by creativity and value-added manufacturing. By adapting to the new realities in the region and in the world economy, investors will continue to maintain their confidence in Thailand as the place to invest in Asia,” he says.
Mr. Udom Wongviwatchai Secretary General, Thailand Board of Investment
He adds that ‘with the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community rapidly approaching Thailand and the BOI are being encouraged to strengthen the competitiveness of Thai companies as overseas investors. When ASEAN becomes a single market, Thai companies must be in a position to compete outside of the country. For BOI, this means acting as a facilitator of overseas investment. That is why the BOI has recently established its Thailand Overseas Investment Office, which will act as a facilitator of Thai investment in neighbouring countries, within ASEAN and South Asia and other regions’. While BOI will not be offering fiscal incentives for Thai companies looking abroad it can help resolve such issues as double taxation and also help companies avoid obsta-