{"id":521228,"date":"2017-10-25T04:24:15","date_gmt":"2017-10-25T04:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/?p=521228"},"modified":"2023-06-07T13:29:37","modified_gmt":"2023-06-07T13:29:37","slug":"thailand-development-plan-eastern-economic-corridor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/infrastructure\/thailand-development-plan-eastern-economic-corridor.html","title":{"rendered":"Thailand development plan: Eastern Economic Corridor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"tailandia-sviluppo-corridoio-economico\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thailand is preparing to put into law a bill drafted to quicken the deployment of an ambitious $44 billion plan to turn the country into a regional economic hub.<\/strong>
The country\u2019s cabinet approved the bill in September, making it a matter of months before it becomes law, according to news reports.
Known as the Eastern Economic Corridor<\/strong> (EEC), the plan would combine huge investments in infrastructure<\/strong> with incentives to attract direct foreign investment <\/strong>along the country\u2019s eastern seaboard where its main industrial base is located.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thai Industry Minister Uttama Savanayana told Bloomberg Television in June the tax breaks and other incentives were to get the private sector to cover 80% of the $44 billion expected to be invested in the EEC.
In addition to creating some 100,000 jobs, the aim is to lift the growth rate of the country\u2019s gross domestic product<\/strong> (GDP) to an annual 5% in five years, according to a report by news agency Reuters. The World Bank sees the Thai economy gaining momentum<\/strong>, having gone up 3.7% in the second quarter compared with 3.3% in the first. An August report on the country foresees it growing 3.5% for the full year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thailand is taking advantage of its geographical location to try to become a hub for Southeast Asia, hence the EEC moniker. \u00abIt will be a game changer\u00bb, Savanayana said of the EEC in his interview with Bloomberg Television.
In a video promoting the plan, the government says it can reach more than half of the world\u2019s population by land, sea and air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Combined with East Asia and India, the region is responsible for one third of the world\u2019s GDP. <\/strong>It is also in the focus of One Belt, One Road, the initiative being promoted by China to invest in the infrastructure needed to foster trade with neighbouring countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"bangkok-highway\"
Bangkok Highway<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thailand is focusing on its eastern seaboard because it wants to modernise its economy<\/strong> by creating centres of innovation that could translate into products and services offered by more advanced industries such as aviation, robotics and biotechnology.<\/strong>
Comprised of three provinces – Rayong, Chachoengsao and Chonburi \u2013 the eastern seaboard covers 13,285 square kilometres, home to more traditional industries such as cars and petrochemicals, which together make up about 20% of the GDP.
ASEAN Briefing, a news and analysis website run by a professional services firm, says the government has identified four core areas it deems essential to turning the EEC into a successful economic zone: infrastructure; industrial or innovation clusters; tourism; and smart cities.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The investments needed to develop these areas are significant.<\/strong>\u00a0A government slide presentation promoting the EEC lists a string of projects to be pursued: $1 billion for highways; $2.8 billion to expand ports; $6 billion to upgrade the U-Tapao International Airport; $6.7 billion to build railways including one for high-speed trains; $12 billion for\u00a0new cities<\/strong>\u00a0and hospitals and $15 billion for industry.
The infrastructure \u2013 whether it be a highway or a high-speed railway line<\/a> \u2013 would not only link the sea and airports and clusters along the eastern seaboard but also expand Thailand\u2019s connections with other countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The incentives for foreign multinational to choose Thailand as a base for their regional operations<\/strong> are also noteworthy. They include an exemption for corporate income tax, land lease for 50 or more years, a three-month public-private-partnership (PPP) procedure and a quicker environmental impact assessment process.<\/strong>
\u00ab(The ECC) is a flagship project of the government\u00bb, Savanayana told Bloomberg Television. \u00abIt can serve as a transformational tool for Thailand\u00bb. \u00abOur goal is to achieve sustainable growth and development<\/strong>\u00bb, he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thailand is preparing to put into law a bill drafted to quicken the deployment of an ambitious $44 billion plan to turn the country into a regional economic hub.The country\u2019s cabinet approved the bill in September, making it a matter of months before it becomes law, according to news reports.Known as the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), the plan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":141902,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[19015,19004,19007,19002],"yst_prominent_words":[12042,3003,23545,3020,963,23543,23544,13581,15027,9144,4918,23547,12355,811,14823,1929,23548,23546,23549,23519],"class_list":["post-521228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-infrastructure","tag-asian-continent","tag-development-and-growth","tag-industry-and-trade","tag-new-challenges"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=521228"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":557955,"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521228\/revisions\/557955"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=521228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=521228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=521228"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=521228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}