With full government support, private investment value in robotics and automation is expected to grow by 50% next year, compared with 11.4 billion baht of investment value from 48 projects that submitted applications this year to the Board of Investment (BoI), says secretary-general Duangjai Asawachintachit.
She said more Thai and foreign companies are submitting applications for BoI incentives and are likely to start real investment in the sector soon.
Investment value in the robotics and automation sectors reached 12 billion baht from only eight projects during the government's initial promotion of robotics and automation systems in 2011, said Ms Duangjai.
"This is a good sign as it helps increase efficiency and accuracy as well as cuts costs for industries as they move towards Thailand 4.0," she said.
Ms Duangjai said the BoI adjusted some measures to encourage investors in the two sectors, such as allowing companies that use up to 30% of local content and raw materials a 50% corporate tax cut.
"This measure is expected to help attract more investors in the robotic and automation sectors," she said.
The plan to promote investment in robotics and automation started in early 2011, when the competitiveness of Thai industries lagged Asean competitors.
The project to increase Thailand's efficiency has encouraged new investment of 38 billion baht so far as many firms and factories worked to cut production costs and save on energy bills. Of the total, most of the investment went to increasing efficiency through solar rooftop projects in factories, lowering power bills, said Ms Duangjai.
The total of 38 billion baht to increase efficiency is still well below the total new investment value of 530 billion baht from applications submitted to the BoI in 2016.
"The BoI will continue to support investors, encouraging them to allot a higher budget for these sectors to help increase Thailand's efficiency," she said.
