Investment spur seen in US move
THE PATH may be clearing for foreigners to expedite investments of at least Bt116.27 billion proposed this year under promotional privileges for targeted industries after Thailand was upgraded on a United States watch list for intellectual property concerns.
The US moved Thailand from its priority watch list (PWL) to the watch list (WL) following a special out-of-cycle trade review after the country’s corrective actions to improve its intellectual property protection. The country had been stuck in the PWL since 2007.
Commerce Minister Sontirat Sontijirawong said that foreign investors and traders - particularly those involved in the innovation and technology sector – would gain confidence from the US move for trade and investment in Thailand.
After the PWL removal, foreigners who have applied for Thailand's investment promotional privileges in 10 targeted industries – clustered in the technology sector - could make decisions for faster investment, he said.
For the first nine months of this year, foreigners made applications totalling Bt116.27 billion. The top three proposals involving intellectual property were automotive projects worth Bt32.43 billion, petrochemical and chemical product projects worth Bt26.99 billion and electronics projects at Bt26.73 billion.
"There will be instant impacts on confidence in trade and investment, particularly for technology and innovation industries which demand intellectual property protection. This is in line with the global trend and the Thailand 4.0 policy and could expedite growth in local industries especially startups and new S-Curve" the minister said, referring the 10 targeted industries to form the basis of the country’s industrial upgrade.
Pimchanok Vonkorpon, director-general at Trade Policy and Strategy Office, said that Thailand will see clearer development into the Thailand 4.0 goals on the international stage as all of the targeted industries require intellectual property projection. These industries include digital technology, biotechnology, aviation and space, and robotics.
Thosapone Dansuputra, director-general at the Department of Intellectual Property, said that the US announcement could provide a positive impact on service industries, which have been driven by intellectual property, while promoting entertainment industry and creativity for commercial purposes.
The country's expense for media content increased by more than 2.3 times from Bt24 billion in 2011 to Bt56 billion in 2015.
Sontirat said that the intellectual property reform will require continued, strict protection in the course of upgrading to international standards.
Thailand is regarded as being on the same level of developed countries like Canada and Switzerland, he said, as he envisages the country ultimately being removed from the US watch list.
He said that the plans extend from collaboration between the public and private sectors to help deter and suppress infringement of intellectual property and amendment of related laws for updates and international standards.
He added that registration of intellectual property must be more efficient. Applications and permits for registration of intellectual property are targeted to be balanced in late 2019 to early 2020.
Now, about 4,000 applications are approved each year, from about 8,000 applications.
The Department of Intellectual Property's reform is also under a process to increase work efficiency.
Thosapone said that the department is amending related laws for deterrence of infringement of intellectual property and to increase the registration efficiency for intellectual property matters.
Patent-related laws will be also amended for faster consideration of applications, while intellectual property suppression will be continuously done in major trade areas, he said.
