The Board of Investment (BoI) is working with seven state and private agencies to support and facilitate the investment of Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker GAC Aion, the third-largest seller of EVs in China, as the company aims to expand its business into Thailand.
GAC Aion recently announced its entry into the Thai market and its readiness to invest more than 6 billion baht to establish manufacturing and sales operations in the country.
The cooperation between the BoI and state and private agencies came after their meeting on July 6 with GAC Aion's executives to coordinate and facilitate the administrative process required to implement the planned investment.
The seven agencies are the Excise Department, the Customs Department, the Office of Industrial Economics, the Department of Business Development, the Department of Land Transport, the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand, and the Thai Subcontracting Promotion Association.
"The meeting highlighted the BoI's important role as an integrator, coordinating with relevant government agencies and the private sector to provide comprehensive information to investors in the form of a 'one-stop service', demonstrating Thailand's readiness to help investors set up operations and do business here," said Narit Therdsteerasukdi, secretary-general of the BoI.
The government is promoting Thailand as a major production hub for EVs and EV parts.
The BoI issued comprehensive promotional measures for investment in the sector, while the Finance Ministry, through the Excise and Customs departments, is offering incentives to boost the domestic EV market.
GAC Aion appointed Ma Haiyang to lead the GAC Aion Thailand project and run its operations in the country.
The company is preparing to build a factory in Thailand, Mr Ma said after the meeting.
"We are very impressed by the support from the government agencies. This makes us feel confident and allows investors like Aion to do business with ease and to start operations quickly," he said.
GAC Aion is developing its "Intelligent Connected Vehicles: ICV" platform, which includes a smart battery system that can support a driving range of up to 1,000 kilometres.