Thailand launches investment moonshot for digital and creative economies
Amid surging global demand for digital content, Thailand's Board of Investment (BOI) has set a goal of transforming the country into a thriving digital and creative hub.
Recognising the immense potential of the content industry, the BOI has unveiled a strategy to accelerate growth and boost the country’s long-term competitiveness.
“Both the digital and creative industries are crucial drivers of the Thai economy,” said BOI investment consultant Narucha Ruchuphan.
Key Initiatives:
Boosting infrastructure
– Investments in data centres, cloud services, submarine cables, digital parks, and co-working spaces.
– Establishing incubation centres, maker spaces, fabrication labs, and IT personnel development hubs.
– Promoting smart city initiatives.
Empowering software and platforms
– Corporate income tax exemptions for eight years for developing digital services platforms.
– Incentives based on personnel development and certification expenses.
Tech-driven efficiency
– Encouraging enterprises to adopt technologies like ERP, e-payment systems, AI, and big data analytics.
Talent acquisition
– Smart visa programme to attract digital experts and startup founders.
– Wage subsidies for promising startups.
Gaming as the game-changer
– Capitalising on the game industry's 85% revenue share in the digital content sector.
– Leveraging new technologies to enhance gaming experiences.
– Fostering positive sentiment by recognising gaming as a viable career path.
“The Thai digital content industry has a chance to grow via industries related to animation, computer graphics, visual graphics, character development, augmented reality and virtual reality," Narucha explained.
Nurturing a skilled workforce
– Collaboration with educational institutions for targeted personnel training.
– Additional incentives for entrepreneurs to upskill and reskill their teams.
– Emphasising corporate-led training programmes.
“Large corporates are the best trainers,” Narucha said, adding that the BOI was ready to support them in upskilling and reskilling their personnel.
Reaching all Thai content creators
– Clarifying support availability for small businesses and individual content creators.
– Offering financial assistance for developing new products and features.
Although the BOI supports both small and large enterprises, only a few digital content providers sought its help last year, Narucha said.
