Estate Specialty:  Chemical, Petrochemical, Steel, Cogeneration Power Steel & Heavy Industry and High Utility Consumption Industries

WHA EIE’s comprehensive industrial infrastructure includes communications, raw, potable and clarified water, wastewater treatment and solid soil bearing capacity. WHA manages the industrial estate operations and various water utilities, providing approximately 160,000 cubic meters per day.

Board of Invesment (BOI)

In December 2014, the Board of Investment of Thailand (BOI) announced the country's new 7-year (2015-2021) investment promotion strategy, which is designed to adapt to changing national development objectives by promoting inbound value-added investments and Thai investments overseas to enhance the country's competitiveness, overcome the 'middle-income trap', and achieve sustainable growth in accordance with the sufficiency economy philosophy.

At the seminar unveiling the change, Prime Minister, General Prayuth Chan-ocha told investors, "The BOI's new investment promotion strategies are vital for the country's long-term development and sustainable growth."

The new investment promotion policy will give priority to investments that are beneficial to and supportive of the country's overall development strategy, including high-tech and creative industries, service industries that support the development of a digital economy, and industries that utilize local resources.

The Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) provides both tax and non-tax incentives. Industrial estates are divided into two zones: General Industrial Zones and Free Zones, whereby no export conditions are imposed in accordance with WTO obligations.

General Industrial Zones and Free Zones

Non-Tax Incentives

The IEAT grants investors permission to own land for carrying out industrial activities; permission for foreign technicians, experts and spouse or dependents to stay in the country; permission to bring foreign technicians and experts to work under industrial activities; and permission to take or remit foreign currency abroad.

These incentives are available in both the general industrial and export processing zones.

Tax Incentives

Tax incentives from the IEAT include exemption from import duties, excise tax and VAT on machinery and raw materials; exemption or refund of duty from the import of local goods into the export processing zone for the production of goods for export; and exemption from export duties, excise tax and VAT on exported goods.

General Industrial Zone

The IEAT provides industrial operators in a General Industrial Zone with comprehensive services essential for industrial operation – such as transportation, warehouses, training centers and clinics – as well as permission to own land required for their operations. Investors in a General Industrial Zone are granted permission to operate service businesses in the General Industrial Zone.

IEAT Free Zone

Operators in an IEAT Free Zone are afforded the privilege of exporting products without any restrictions and with the added convenience of being able to bring merchandise or raw materials into an IEAT Free Zone. Supplies taken into an IEAT Free Zone are entitled to improved tax and duty privileges, including tax burden relief for products taken out of an IEAT Free Zone for domestic use or consumption and content or raw material components, if produced domestically, are entitled to tax and duty exemptions.

Operators in an IEAT Free Zone remain entitled to privileges indicated in the previous Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand Act.

Operators are granted permission to import into Thailand or bring into an IEAT Free Zone, merchandise and raw materials for production, trade or service offering, without any restriction that importation of such material is limited to business operators. Export goods producers are also permitted to bring supplies or raw materials into an IEAT Free Zone for manufacturing, mixing, assembling, packing or any other operations, without requiring any import permits or particular seals or symbols and with exemptions from standard and quality control requirements contained in any other laws — except those found in the customs law.

WHA Industrial Development, the focal point of Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC)

Nine+ of WHA Industrial Development Industrial estates are strategically located in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) of Rayong and Chonburi provinces. Covering the area of 35,074 rai (14,021 acres), investors in our estates enjoys the benefit of EEC development plan under scheme of Thailand 4.

New investment promotion tools have been developed by the Eastern Economic Corridor Office, as well as the Investment Promotion Act has been amended to add new or enhanced incentives for investors who apply advanced technologies, and demonstrate strength in innovation and R&D. To further investment and development of Thailand’s 10 target industries five existing industries will be upgraded while additional five new industries have been targeted as new growth engines.

Thailand 4.0 – combination of cyber and physical production system, demonstrates Thailand’s readiness to reform country’s economic structure and competitiveness through attractive policies to increase foreign investment in the target industries. Through the integration of the integrated network of cyber and real manufacturing world, the Internet of Things (IoT) enormously favors the production lines and processes at manufacturing sites.

Combined with great existing industrial clusters and worldwide-recognized area for foreign investment, the EEC already offer the appropriate infrastructure and utilities. The strategic logistics and transportation infrastructure in public transportation are under major improvement with linkage with international marketing through dual rail tracks, high-speed trains from Bangkok, highway expansions, development of Laem Chabang deep seaport and expansions of all three airports in the greater Bangkok area - Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, and U-Tapao.

Collaboration between the government, the public and private sectors and academic institutions will put the right mechanisms in place, covering all aspects such as investments in infrastructure, human capital, education, and government support.

General Area 3,760 rai (1,504 acres, 602 hectares)

Board 

Non Tax

• The right to lease land for up to 50 years for residential development, and up to 99 years for commercial and industrial areas (50 years initially and 49 years on one-time renewal);
• The right to employ foreign workers with certain professions or knowledge;
• Fast-track environmental impact assessment (EIA);
• Facilitation in the issuance of work permit and visas;
• Issuance of a five-year business visa; and
• Public-Private Partnership (PPP) opportunity for investing in the EEC: Under the Eastern Economic Corridor Act, foreign investors, collaborating with the Thai government in infrastructure projects, will acquire special regulatory rights under the sped-up PPP process, which is now only a three-month-long

• Exemption from foreign land ownership restrictions for Board of Investment (BOI) promoted projects;
• One Stop Service to facilitate investment in the area. The one stop service center provides comprehensive information related to investment in the EEC. The center also offers services for licenses application, such as trade, import, and export licenses;
• EEC infrastructure readiness
• Thailand has introduced five major infrastructure projects to support the prospective economic opportunities in the EEC. These include the development of a high-speed train, the expansion of the Laem Chabang deep-sea port, the expansion of the Map Thaput deep-sea port, the development of Eastern Airport City (U-Tapao airport), and a joint venture between Airbus and Thai Airways International that will build maintenance facilities in the region.  
• Additionally, the government is planning to build a digital park (EECd) in Si Racha, located on the coast of Chonburi, in hopes of developing an Eastern Economic Corridor of innovation (EECi) – a complimentary project which will provide digital connectivity.  

On February 6, the government gave approval for a 220-kilometer high-speed train project to link three main airports – Don Mueang, Suvarnabhumi and U-Tapao Rayong-Pattaya International Airport, as part of the development of its EEC. The new airport linkages are expected to generate an economic return of 700 billion baht (US$22.3 billion). The EEC committee approved another 168 infrastructure development projects worth 989 billion baht (US$31.5 billion) for the flagship scheme

Thai, Japan, Koria