Thai Boi Eyes High-tech Car Production - Especially Hybrids

Maybe the powers that be are finally cottoning on. Up to 10B Baht tax incentive. We shall see.

BR>Jack

Thailand aims to lure automakers to relocate their production of new-technology vehicles by offering tax incentives for projects worth at least 10 billion baht, the Board of Investment (BoI) said yesterday. The board, chaired by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, yesterday agreed to designate the new segment of vehicle production eligible for BoI privileges. "We want to attract new investments from automakers to use Thailand as their production base for exports of new-technology vehicles such as hybrid cars," said BoI secretary-general Atchaka Brimble."These vehicles must be models that have never been produced locally." According to Dr Atchaka, there are foreign automakers that have expressed interest in such projects in Thailand but she declined to elaborate. Under the criteria endorsed by the BoI, companies need to invest in a new production line with the capacity to make a minimum of 100,000 units in the first five years of operations.