Thailand's Northeast to be developed as hub of rail systems

BANGKOK, January 11 (TNA) - As the Thai government plans to develop the country's northeastern region to become a hub of rail systems, the Board of Investment of Thailand (BOI), under the Ministry of Industry, has invited international firms to invest in production, control and maintenance projects of rail systems in the region. BOI Secretary-General Duangjai Asawachintachit told journalists on Friday that a meeting of the BOI Board, held earlier in the day and chaired by Thai Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha, approved the BOI's measures on promotional privileges for new investment projects in the rail development industry and related industries. Duangjai said the BOI Board's approval was based on the fact that there should be new rail systems, including those of dual-track trains, electric trains and high-speed trains, with their total distances of over 6,000 kilometers developed in the Thai Northeast in the future. Besides, the BOI Board's decision is also aimed to enhance the competitiveness of Thai business operators in the rail and related industries and to reduce the country's reliance on imported rail systems and parts, including train bogies, control and signal systems and other parts and equipment. The BOI chief quoted an official report of the Ministry of Transport's Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning (OTTPP) as assessing that the demand for train bogies of all rail systems in Thailand should reach 10,000 units over the next 20 years, meaning that about 300 train bogies should be produced annually over the next 3-5 years. The BOI chief, thus, invited international private firms to apply their new rail projects for her office's consideration by December 30, 2021, with those approved during the three-year period to be granted a 50-per cent corporate tax for 3-5 years. As the Thai government plans to develop the country's northeastern region to become a hub of rail systems in order to, among others, create more jobs, the BOI chief noted that newly-approved rail projects in the Thai Northeast, namely in Khon Kaen and Nakhon Ratchasima Provinces, will be all granted the 50-per cent corporate tax cut for five years. The BOI chief acknowledged, meanwhile, that Friday's BOI Board meeting also approved measures to promote new infrastructure development projects in the domestic tourism sector, including those on the construction of a cruise terminal connecting the Gulf of Thailand with the Andaman Sea, funded by at least 100 million baht, with the approved project to be granted a tax cut for five years. The BOI chief revealed that Friday's BOI Board meeting resolved as well to ease a condition for investment funds of approved tourism-related projects, namely museums or cultural or arts centers in Thai tourist destinations to be promoted as major ones in the future, from 100 million baht each to 30 million baht each. (TNA)