An Eastern Economic Corridor of Innovation (EECI) has been designed to support development of innovation and technology in the corridor.
The EECI under the Science and Technology Ministry will go before a meeting of the Special Economic Zones Development Committee chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha for approval soon.
Atchaka Sibunruang, the Science and Technology Minister, said the EECI will function as a centre to handle R&D and innovations to serve both the government and private sector, focusing mainly on automobiles; smart electronics; petrochemicals; aviation; energy; food, agriculture and biotechnology; public health, health care, biomedical technology; robotics and smart devices; digital economy, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence; and creative economy, culture and lifestyle.
The centre is projected to cost about 500 million baht, including a laboratory and pilot plant facility.
A pilot plant is an industrial production system that employs new technology concepts, mainly to learn about new technology.
Mrs Atchaka said the location for the EECI will be among the three provinces that constitute the corridor: Chon Buri, Rayong and Chachoengsao. She indicated the most interesting plot is Wang Chan Valley in Rayong owned by PTT Plc, which runs an R&D centre there.
Mrs Atchaka said the government has done a lot to promote R&D and innovation in Thailand. The National Policy Council for Research and Innovation, chaired by the prime minister, was established last year, awarding generous tax incentives to entice spending, particularly from the private sector in R&D.
Last April the Board of Investment (BoI) endorsed incentives including tax holidays of up to 13 years to support investment in targeted technologies, greater than the eight years offered to other businesses. Investments eligible for tax incentives will be divided into two categories: four targeted core technologies (biotechnology, nanotechnology, advanced materials technology, and digital technology) and enabling services.
Enabling services cover R&D, science and technology training, electronic design, engineering design services, scientific laboratory services and standardisation services.
The BoI also approved waivers for import tariffs on materials to be used in R&D such as chemical substances, prototypes, animals or plants.
Investors in general businesses will also be allowed to claim deductions for R&D expenses of 300%, up from 200%, if they invest more in technological or human resource development.
Last month the national council approved a proposal from the Pracha Rat (People's State) steering committee on R&D to allow companies that group together to claim deductions for R&D expenses of 300%, up from 200%, if they invest more in five business areas. The five areas are food, agriculture, and biotechnology; public health, healthcare and biomedical technology; robotics and smart devices; digital economy, the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence; and creative economy, culture and lifestyle.
The incentives will be offered from 2017 to 2019.
Similar incentives are available from 2016-20 for individual companies.
Mrs Atchaka said the government is developing a longer-term budget for R&D rather than an annual outlay to ensure spending continuity.
The government has set an ambitious plan to raise domestic spending on R&D to 4% of GDP, on a par with developed countries, by 2036.
Under its 20-year plan, the targets are to raise government R&D spending to an average of 1% of GDP during 2017-21, 1.5% during 2022-26, 2% during 2027-31 and more than 2% during 2032-36.
The private sector will play a key part, with its spending estimated to account for 70% of the country's spending on R&D.
Thailand's R&D spending now represents only 0.5% of GDP or 60 billion baht, evenly split between the government and private sector, with the figure projected to hit 0.7% this year.
The R&D plan would call for increasing the proportion of researchers in the population to 80 per 10,000 by 2036 from an estimated 12.9 per 10,000 this year.