East to attract tech investors

The government is rebranding the country’s largest industrial zone, the Eastern Seaboard – covering eight provinces on the east coast – into the EEC in order to cash in on both domestic and foreign investment, as well as to promote the country as a new industrial hub in the region.
Kan said the Cabinet should approve a draft law for the creation of the EEC within the next few months, and formally announce it as being on the national investment agenda by the year’s end.
“Creation of the EEC is the biggest economic development [in Thailand] in the last 30 years. It is a major part of the country’s S-curve economic rebound. And this time the focus will be on high-end industries,” he said.
Kan, director of Siam Cement and one of the key figures in the economic-reform team responsible for developing the government’s “Pracha Rath” and “Quick Win” projects, said the private sector was ready to invest in such high-technology sectors to the tune of about Bt150 billion over the next three years.
The government has an overall policy goal of boosting 10 high-end industries and service sectors such as chemicals, biochemicals, automotive, tourism, machinery and parts, and high-speed-rail systems.
“At least four sectors will be seen in the EEC – infrastructure systems, chemicals, tourism and services, and aviation and aircraft maintenance – with a combined [private-sector] investment of around Bt150 billion,” he said.
“U-tapao Rayong Pattaya International Airport can be developed as a new commercial airport and maintenance-centre hub for the region. The airport will soon complete its new passenger terminal, which will increase passenger capacity from the current 700,000 to 3 million per year,” he added.
Meanwhile, deep-sea ports can be developed as a boost to marine tourism, as they can serve international cruise lines as well as luxury yachts.
Rayong province, which he said claimed the highest income rate in the Kingdom, should attract new investment and service businesses.
The government has already invested more than Bt300 billion in mega-infrastructure development around the country, Kan said, adding that the huge investment programme was aimed at linking Thailand with Southeast Asia, and not least with neighbouring countries under the new CLMVT (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand) cooperation drive.
Under its EEC plans, the government will initially focus on three provinces – Chon Buri, Rayong and Chachoengsao – as they have high potential for further development, he said.
It will later expand its coverage to the other five provinces in the industrial zone.
To turn the area into a genuine industrial hub in the region, the government also plans to make it a “dollar-based industrial zone” for trading, which will facilitate the speed and efficiency of financial flows in the zone, the working-group head said.
The Board of Investment, meanwhile, will offer extra privileges for investors in the EEC, as well as special benefits for experts and specialists. It is considering a waiver of personal income tax for five years for foreign experts working in the EEC’s industrial zones.
Kan’s working group will soon seek to get local residents involved in community funds, which will be established to help communities in the industrial zones.
The government plans to develop six industrial zones in the EEC in a bid to drive long-term economic growth.