Recently, the Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) organized a roadshow in China, aiming to attract world-class battery manufacturers to invest in Thailand and set up battery production bases in response to the national electric vehicle policy and to strengthen electric vehicles and cleanliness. Energy supply chain.
BOI Secretary-General Nari revealed that the National Electric Vehicle Policy Board (EV Board), chaired by the Prime Minister, approved measures to promote investment in electric vehicle (EV) cell-level battery production and energy storage systems on February 21, 2024 ( ESS). Subsequently, the policy committee also added the Competitiveness Enhancement Fund.
To this end, BOI organized investment roadshow activities in Guangdong and Fujian provinces from April 7 to 10, 2024, to attract investment from cell-level battery manufacturers. Battery manufacturing is an upstream industry for the electric vehicle industry, with advanced technology and high investment requirements. It is crucial to strengthening the electric vehicle industry and the clean energy supply chain.
Promoting investment in cell-level battery production aims to attract the world’s leading battery companies to invest in Thailand, establish cell-level battery production bases, and use Thailand as an export base to produce and export batteries. Specific requirements include the following four conditions:
It must be a leading producer of batteries used by electric vehicle manufacturers. It must produce batteries for electric vehicles, and also batteries used in energy storage systems. The specific energy value of the produced battery cells must not be less than 150 Wh/Kg. The life cycle must be not less than 1,000 cycles, and preferred investors will enjoy privileges such as exemption from corporate income tax, dividend tax exemption for up to 15 years, exemption from machinery import duties, exemption from import tariffs on raw materials used, and import tariffs on imported raw materials for production reduced by no more than 90% of the normal tax rate, etc.
In addition, it will also receive financial support from the Competitiveness Enhancement Fund for the cost of partial investment, R&D or personnel development. The way to provide benefits will be determined through negotiations on a project-by-project basis. During the negotiation phase, the committee will consider the investment plan, the scale of production capacity, the level of technology knowledge and technology transfer, employment and personnel development plans, and other factors that contribute to strengthening the supply chain and enhancing the country’s competitiveness.
In this roadshow, the BOI will meet with executives of large Chinese battery companies, including CATL, CALB, EVE Energy, Gotion High-Tech, and Sunwoda, which are among the top 10 global electric vehicle battery manufacturers. In addition, it will also meet with the main electric vehicle manufacturer, XPeng Motors, as the company was recently launched at the Thai auto show, and this year will discuss the investment plan for the next phase of producing electric vehicles.
Currently, the BOI has approved a total of 103 projects related to the promotion of electric vehicles, with an investment of more than 77 billion baht, including 40 projects to promote batteries, with an investment of about 25 billion baht; 24 projects are for batteries for electric vehicles, with a total investment of 13 billion baht; the remaining projects are for the production of high-capacity batteries, for various industries, a total of 16 projects, with a total investment of 12 billion baht.
Therefore, this is an important opportunity to attract investment in battery production from the world’s leading companies. Thailand’s battery production level is at the international leading level. The goal of this roadshow is very clear, which is to target China’s world-class battery manufacturing enterprises and attract them to set up battery production bases in Thailand. This will help enhance Thailand’s strength, improve the supply chain of the electric vehicle industry, and make Thailand a center for battery production and a comprehensive electric vehicle industry center, and also help expand the energy storage system of the clean energy industry that requires batteries.
