BANGKOK, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's Board of Investment (BOI) has approved measures to encourage companies to speed up their digital technology and automation adoptions to promote Industry 4.0 transformation.
The newly-approved measures will give eligible companies a three-year corporate income tax exemption covering all their investment for the Industry 4.0 upgrades, the Southeast Asian country's initiative to boost the competitiveness of its manufacturing industry.
Applications must be filed by the end of 2022, while companies that receive approval have to fully implement their upgrade plans within three years from the date of issuance of the BOI certificate, according to BOI secretary-general Duangjai Asawachintachit.
The new measure supplements the existing measures to support the adoption of automation systems and digital technology adoption, Duangjai said.
During the first nine months of the year, the BOI has received investment applications from both domestic and overseas investors totaling 520.7 billion baht (about 15.7 billion U.S. dollars), higher than those for the whole last year.
The number of project applications during the January-September period stood at 1,273, compared with 1,037 during the same period last year, indicating investors' sustained confidence in Thailand and in key targeted sectors, Duangjai said.
Among these investment applications, key target sectors include electric and electronics, the medical sector, petrochemicals and chemicals, agroindustry and the food sector, according to the BOI. Enditem
