The Board of Investment (BoI) has laid out a plan to attract aerospace investment at U-tapao airport in 2019 as part of the government's Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) development.
The first phase develops 6,500 rai for the airport and an aviation hub, which includes a new terminal to accommodate 15 million passengers in the next five years, a second runway, a business zone, a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility, and air cargo space.
The Royal Thai Navy plans to announce a winning bidder for the first phase in March, with the document submission deadline on Feb 28.
The project's construction is expected to be completed by 2023, and operations are to begin by 2024.
The navy also aims to launch terms of reference for the MRO facility's second phase at U-tapao airport in February.
The EEC Office is planning to develop the next step, an "aerotropolis" that stretches 30 kilometres from U-tapao airport. The aerotropolis is a planned location for 600 companies related to the aerospace, medical, fashion and e-commerce industries.
BoI secretary-general Duangjai Asawachintachit said the agency plans roadshows in 2019 to focus on the aerospace industry, one of 10 targeted sectors.
She said the roadshow will be designed to attract investment from Europe and the US to Thailand's aerospace industry, which is still quite new.
The aviation industry is likely to have steady growth over the next 5-10 years, while global aircraft sales are expected to increase 50%, with 20% of that growth coming from Asia.
The EEC Office expects aircraft volume over the next 20 years to reach 40,000, 20,000 of which will be based in Asia.
Thailand will likely benefit from its geographic position and become an aviation hub, making the new MRO pragmatic, Ms Duangjai said.
Applications for investment in the EEC were expected to reach 300 billion baht in the first nine months of 2018.
Applications for the 12 targeted S-curve industries increased by 69% from 525 projects, worth 290.48 billion baht, from January to September in 2018.
Ms Duangjai said roadshows for the other 10 targeted industries were also organised in Japan, China, South Korea and Hong Kong to focus on high-tech industries.
The agency expects BoI applications in 2018 to have reached 720 billion baht.
Regarding big infrastructure projects in the EEC, Ms Duangjai said a high-speed rail linking three major airports and the aviation city both require a large investment, for which companies could not submit applications by 2018 because of a delay in the bidding process.
She said the last quarter of each year normally sees many applications, with 200 billion baht worth of applications being submitted in the last two months of 2017.
The BoI reported 1,125 investment applications over the first nine months in 2018 with a total value of 377.05 billion baht. The number of applications for the period rose 10%, while value rose just 0.8%, from 373.91 billion baht in the same period of 2017.
The agency will report investment conclusions for 2018 and targets for 2019 to the board meeting that will be chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Jan 11.
In 2019, the BoI plans to conduct a campaign to promote a "golden year" for investment, even though the global economy is likely to grow only 4% next year, down from 4.2% this year, a result of uncertainty from the US-China trade war and Brexit.
The BoI board last month approved the policy to attract investors by next year. Investors are required to start operations within 36 months after the BoI issues an investment certificate.
"The agency expects Japanese investment to maintain the No.1 rank in 2019, while China's applications are expected to dramatically increase," Ms Duangjai said.
In the first nine months of 2018, Japanese applications accounted for 240 projects worth 34 billion baht, while China had applications for 55 projects worth 22 billion baht.
Ms Duangjai said the BoI also aims to promote inclusive growth in the economy, through a new policy allowing large companies to help community businesses and smart farmers, not only in the agricultural sector but in tourism, agri-business and One Tambon One Product operations.
The agency plans to cooperate with the government agency on R&D to support local economies by using research to develop their businesses.
Ms Duangjai said the BoI will also focus more on the goals of the Strategic Talent Center to help investors provide valuable expertise for high-tech projects.