An Analysis of Investment Promotion Policy Under the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) Development Plan

Abstract

               This qualitative research aims 1) to analyze the investment promotion policy under The Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) Development Plan, 2) to analyze the policy implementation, 3) to examine threats and limitations of the policy, and 4) to propose a guideline for policy revision and policy implementation. The data were collected from two means: documentary study and in-depth interviews with officers at the top management level, area operational staff, entrepreneurs, and experts. The studied document includes related legal provisions and regulations. The interviews were conducted in alignment with a semi-structured interview form. Relational content analysis was used to analyze the data, and the findings are presented in descriptive form.

   The findings reveal that the policy of investment promotion in the EEC is a vital scheme that the government hopefully intends to uplift the economy and establish new industries and economy as of the Thailand 4.0 model. Two key responsible agents are The Board of Investment and The Eastern Economic Corridor Office of Thailand. The promotions of the two agents are similar in terms of tax privileges, information provision, infrastructure provision, financial facility, labor skill development, and investment consultation. The differences are in the limitation of the promotion zone which covers only 3 provinces: Chachoengsao, Chonburi, and Rayong. The policies of the EEC are rather attractive, especially for the focused industries. The threats are 1) the managerial structure of the working committee comprised of authorities from various organizations, 2) maladroit bureaucracy, 3) policy discontinuity due to political instability, 4) function overlap of the working agents, 5) greater benefits for high net worth and foreign investors than those for SMEs, and 6) insufficiency of labor with language and IT skills and programmers which are required for the new industries.