Thailand lures e-bike manufacturers with investment privileges

MONDAY, September 06, 2021

The Board of Investment (BoI) on Monday approved investment privileges for electric-bicycle manufacturers and also boosted privileges for e-motorcycles, e-tricycles and battery-powered trucks.

The move, aimed to promote Thailand’s growing e-vehicle industry, was approved at Monday’s BoI meeting chaired by Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha and attended by Energy Minister Supattanapong Punmeechaow and Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith.

“PM Prayut told the meeting that the BoI must provide aid to SMEs that have been affected by Covid-19 situation as soon as possible to ensure that businesses stay afloat through the crisis and that unemployment is minimised,” said PM’s Office spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana.

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“Industries are also urged to promote the use of manual labour together with machines under the Industry 4.0 framework,” he added.

The meeting also approved measures to help businesses affected by lockdown, including extending the deadline for application of ISO 9002, CMMI and related industrial standards. BoI-promoted companies are also allowed to file for temporary suspension of operations for more than two months.

The BoI reported that in the first six months of this year, 801 projects worth a total Bt386.2 billion were granted investment promotion privileges, up 158 per cent from the same period last year. Of these, 232 projects (29 per cent) are located in Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) with total investment valued at Bt126.6 billion or 33 per cent of total investment value.