BoI hails first-quarter applications

The Board of Investment (BoI) says investment applications for government incentives totalled 333 projects with a value of 203.63 billion baht from January to March.

BoI secretary-general Duangjai Asawachintachit said 2018 has seen good sentiment from investors, with first-quarter applications accounting for 28% of the BoI’s full-year target of 720 billion baht.

She said the project value of applications in the period was about 100 billion baht higher than the previous year’s level.

“Most of the applications went to the government’s 10 targeted industries, such as eco-friendly petrochemicals and chemicals, agriculture, biotechnology, tourism, automotive, auto parts and processed food products,” Ms Duangjai said.

She said another aspect in the investor spotlight is privileges encouraging upgrades to manufacturing efficiency, one of the BoI’s key measures.

The board noted 33 investment applications for such measures with a combined value of 1.5 billion baht from January to March.

“The measures have attracted many investors to apply for them, and the BoI expects higher value in 2018 compared with 2017’s 17 billion baht,” Ms Duangjai said. “The BoI has high expectations that upgrading manufacturing efficiency can push investors in the country to develop themselves to be competitive in the industrial sector in the long run.”

The BoI has introduced measures in line with the government’s Industry 4.0 initiative to increase the country’s industrial efficiency.

Examples i nclude i nvestment f or energy-saving/eco-friendly purposes and the use of robotics and automation.