New EEC chief unveils 5-year plan for sustainable development, aims to bring in THB2.2 trillion investment

Chula Sukmanop, who took over as secretary-general of the EEC Office on April 1, unveiled his five-year plan to make the corridor a "prototype of sustainable development”.

“The new EEC growth plan has been reviewed and improved on in order to be compatible with the future global environment and the impact of the global economic downturn caused by Covid-19, which affected the elderly population,” said Chula.

“The ability to persuade investors in new industries in accordance with global investment trends as well as in Thailand is increased by incorporating future industry trends in the overall five-year vision of the EEC,” he said.

His four key areas of focus are land, labour, law and regulations, and logistics infrastructure.

■ For land, the EEC will prepare and consult with different industrial estates to allocate areas to invite investments that are unique to each business group.

■ Labour skills will be developed in the form of a package deal that will appeal to investors. Personnel will be available for work that meets business demands.

■ Adjusting laws and regulations to make it easier to invest and set up operations in the region.

Optimisation of transport and logistics infrastructure will be emphasised to cut operating expenses.

“The EEC is aiming to bring in 2.2 trillion baht in investment in five years, which would propel annual economic growth to 5%,” said Chula.

A prototype of sustainable development has also been drafted to drive the EEC’s major objectives.

The first objective is to manage essential infrastructure to support the EEC’s four main infrastructure management plans, which include having more discussions with the private sector, identifying solutions to issues, reaching a quick conclusion, and ensuring that the operation is compliant with this year’s plans.

The EEC project list includes the high-speed train project connecting three airports, U-Tapao Airport and the Eastern Aviation City development project, phase 3 of the Map Ta Phut industrial port development project, and phase 3 Laem Chabang port development project.

“Additionally, new purchasing power parity investment projects would be promoted, including the Pluak Daeng Hospital 2 project, which would raise the quality of healthcare for EEC residents in the near future,” Chula said.

“This is to inspire confidence in investors and provide a concrete overview of the progress the EEC has made in implementing its plan to draw in investors from around the world,” he said.

Second, it would encourage investment in specific sectors in both existing and new projects, with the aim of securing 400 million baht in investment each year as part of its goal to draw 2.2 trillion baht in investment in the next five years.

The EEC will concentrate on attracting 150 billion baht annual investment from foreign investors.

“Specific plans will be implemented to make the EEC more focused on attracting investors. They include arranging activities to persuade investors in targeted industries, such as road shows, encouraging investment in unique economic promotion zones, and promoting investment in unique businesses,” said Chula.

“We will set up special promotion zones for extra special activities, such as the construction of operations support systems and the Pluak Daeng Hospital 2, and connect them with appropriate authorities to offer a one-stop service,” he said.

“Manpower would be developed within the EEC to create skilled salespersons and attract specific investors in each targeted industry to enter the EEC,” he added.

Chula added that this would be “the year of investment”.

The third is to improve the standard of living by focusing on communal living as a whole.

These improvements include driving ongoing personnel development while collaborating with the sector, improving the standard of living and enhancing the quality of life, local business growth, building careers to increase income, and become a popular tourist destination in the EEC to expand the role of networks so that locals can profit and live better lives as a result of the EEC's growth.

“Our goal is to keep the quality of life in the neighbourhood high, particularly in the economically promising areas,” he said.

“This will be accomplished by facilitating the growth of the local economy for the villagers, development of wellness health tourism to increase revenue, and education and environment management to constantly and sustainably improve the people’s quality of life,” he said.

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