Bids for BOI incentives hit a record
Foreign and local investors applied for tax privileges from the Board of Investment worth a total of Bt1.12 trillion from January through December 20, up 77 per cent from last year's value of Bt634.25 billion.
This is the highest amount since the BoI was established in 1960.
There were applications for 2,180 projects in the period, up 9 per cent from last year’s total, Industry Minister Prasert Boonchaisuk told a news conference yesterday.
Of that total, 601 projects or 27 per cent were from the service and infrastructure sectors and were worth Bt373.82 billion. The automotive and auto-assembly sector provided 544 projects worth Bt239.64 billion, followed by chemicals, paper and plastic, with a combined 281 projects worth Bt204.02 billion.
The fourth-largest sector was electronics and home appliances with 324 projects worth Bt146.8 billion, and the last group was agriculture and by-products, with 280 projects worth Bt76.3 billion.
BoI secretary Udom Wongwiwatchai said this record value meant that investors continued to have confidence in expanding their business in Thailand. They also believe that Thailand will be their production base for the upcoming Asean Economic Community.
Meanwhile, the BoI is studying ways to improve its policy and tax measures by focusing on investment value to create productivity and technology, rather than the number of projects, he said.
