Bangkok--31 Jan--Thailand Board of Investment
In response to the recent flooding, the Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) has introduced a series of promotional measures and activities designed to restore investor confidence in Thailand and to regain momentum in the country’s industrial development.
These will include special tax incentive packages for affected companies and initiatives to encourage infrastructure development to prevent future floods.
To qualify for the tax incentives approved by the BOI on 29 December 2011, flood-affected companies must operate BOI-promoted projects that have a remaining period of unused corporate income tax exemption. (http://www.boi.go.th/upload/content/flood%20relief%20measures_33601.pdf)
Furthermore, to help prevent flooding of industrial facilities in the future, the BOI will extend an eight-year corporate income tax exemption with a cap of 200% of investment, excluding costs of land and working capital, to all industrial estates and industrial zones that invest in flood-preventing systems and infrastructure.
In addition to these tax incentive packages, the BOI also worked to enhance confidence in Thailand as an investment destination among Thai and foreign businesspeople by organizing the giant BOI Fair 2011, “Going Green for the Future”, which took place from 5 to 22 January of this year. The event fulfilled its goals by attracting managers and businesspeople from all over the country as well as media representatives from a long list of foreign countries.
The Fair’s wide spectrum of activities brought businesspeople from many nations together to exchange ideas and negotiate almost 1500 new business projects, while sales of merchandise totalled 4,054 million baht, surpassing the target amount by more than 1 billion baht. The CEO Forum, one of the Fair’s key events, attracted more than 500 high-level managers from the international business community, adding further to the event’s success in fulfilling and surpassing its objectives.
The CEO Forum was success to showcase Thailand's business potential and shore up confidence among Thai and foreign investors.
Mr. Kan Trakulhoon, President and CEO, SCG, Thailand (1st from left), Mr. Yoshihisa Kainuma, Representative Director, President and CEO,Minebea Co., Japan (2nd from left) and Mr. Pat Dawson, Asia Pacific President of the Dow Chemical Company USA (middle) were on panel discussion to exchange views and experiences on the topic of "Corporate Sustainability Strategies in an Increasingly Volatile World" Mr. John F. Coyne, President and CEO, Western Digital Corp USA (1st from right) gave special address on post-flood measures to restore W.D. factories in Thailand