Wants To Keep Doing Automotive In ASEAN, Thailand Gives Special Incentives For Electric Car Investment

Thailand wants to dominate car manufacturing in Southeast Asia. (photo: doc. pixabay)

JAKARTA - Thailand has expanded incentives to increase the use of electric vehicles (EV). This was revealed by Thailand's investment promotion agency on Thursday, April 7. The country of the White Elephant wants to maintain its status as a major car production center in Southeast Asia.

Smaller charging stations will now qualify for a three-year tax benefit, an added incentive on top of the five-year corporate income tax exemption available for investment in charging stations with at least 40 chargers. This was announced by Duangjai Asawachintachit, head of the Investment Board (BOI), said at a press conference.

"The conditions that prohibit investors from receiving additional benefits from other institutions, and the requirements for ISO certification have also been removed," he said.

"These revised steps are to ensure that our incentives remain relevant in a fast-changing business environment," he said.

Thailand is currently starting to encourage consumers to switch to EVs, with the aim of ensuring 30% of its total car production output is EVs by 2030.

"In the January-March period, foreign and Thai investment applications as a whole, including for the auto industry, were valued at 110.7 billion baht (Ro 47.3 trillion), down 6% from a year earlier due to global geopolitical and economic challenges," Duangjai said, as quoted by Reuters.

However, foreign investment pledges alone rose 29% to 77.3 billion baht (IDR 33 trillion) in the January-March period. Taiwan, Japan, and China are now the top three investors in Thailand. Among the targeted industries, the automotive sector topped the list with an investment value of 41.6 billion baht (IDR 17.8 trillion).