The Board of Investment (BoI) says incentive schemes under the seven-year strategic investment promotion plan (2015-21) are expected to contribute 418 billion baht to GDP.
The schemes are also moving the country's economic structure towards science and technology.
In a recent investment policy impact assessment, the BoI said its incentives have contributed positively to the economy. In 2015-16, the scheme boosted private consumption by 1.6%, private investment by 6%, exports by 4.3%, imports by 2.5% and employment by 0.5% on average.
The report said promoted projects have high value-added revenue. During 2015-17, the value-added revenue of promoted projects was 40.3% on average. The service sector experienced the largest expansion in all industries with growth of 64.5% in value-added revenue, followed by the industrial sector with 36.1% and agriculture and agricultural processing with 26.8%.
Significant progress was also observed in R&D investment, which is considered crucial for Thailand's transformation into an advanced economy. During the past three years, as many as 556 BoI-promoted projects have invested in research and technology and innovation development.
The ratio of average R&D investment and expenses to revenue reached 1.02%. Notable research fields include the study of white blood cells to help cancer patients and the development of biological products to treat allergies, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis.
Progress was also observed in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), which is designed to become a new economic growth hub for the region.
Total investment applications for the EEC area during 2015-17 reached 542 billion baht, representing 40% of the total investment value of applications.
In addition, total investment applications for projects located in the EEC enjoyed notable growth of 117% year-on-year during the first nine months of 2018.
During the first 10 months of 2018 alone, 6,095 new companies were established in the EEC area, representing an increase of 8.2% on the same period of 2017, due to the BoI's investment scheme, according to the Business Development Department.
Most of the newly established companies are in the property, construction and restaurant service industries. Such companies have been set up in response to higher demand for accommodation, food and services in the economic zone.
Given the BoI's statistics, it is clear that more investment is flowing into targeted sectors and the EEC area, which is not only creating huge benefits for the economy but also supporting progress to transform into an advanced and more sustainable economy.