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SMALL BUSINESS
VICHAYA PITSUWAN
Small businesses will be offered incentives for innovative projects that promote technological development, said Hirunya Suchinai, a senior executive investment adviser with the the Board of Investment (BoI). The BoI would offer privileges to local operators in six industries that join research institutions on innovation projects. The incentives include machinery import tax exemptions and a waiver of 70% of corporate income tax for three years.
The BoI has identified six industries _ agriculture, rubber, textiles, packaging, electrical and electronics, and automobiles _ as eligible to apply.
The move aims to enhance local business competitiveness in collaboration with the Fiscal Policy Office at the Finance Ministry.
The board's hope is that offer will spur investment from usually hesitant small businesses
However, Mrs Hirunya admitted that compared to other countries such as Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and the United States, BoI incentives may not be attractive.
Other countries offer credits that allow project owners to pay less tax on their research spending.
''We also want to offer generous incentives as we see it as innovation is essential to the country's growth in the long-run, but it is blocked by regulations,'' Mrs Hirunya said.
The BoI and the Finance Ministry are pushing for legal changes to allow it to offer better privileges.BoI statistics reveal from 2004 to 2006, it gave incentives to 3,421 projects with only 2.74% or 94 projects related to science and technology.
Mrs Hirunya said that innovation spending has not been popular among SMEs because of high risk and insufficient knowledge for improvement.
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