The Board of Investment (BoI) will join hands with two state-backed banks to help entrepreneurs affected by the Covid-19 outbreak, BoI secretary-general Duangjai Asawachintachit has said.

“BoI will work with Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand [SME D Bank] and Export-Import Bank of Thailand [Exim Bank] to organise an online seminar “SME Solution for the Covid-19 Crisis” on May 28 to guide and assist entrepreneurs interested in obtaining BoI privileges” she said. “Furthermore, the BoI and the two banks will provide several measures to help those who are affected by Covid-19.”

Some of the highlighted measures are:

Reducing the minimum investment requirement for those who wish to apply for BoI privileges to Bt500,000 (excluding land investment and rotating funds); increasing corporate tax break to 200 per cent of investment value for type A entrepreneurs (those with 3-8 years privileges); allowing the import of second hand machines to be used in the project.

“The BoI is also planning to provide additional benefits to SMEs who are located in special economic zones in 10 border provinces to promote inter-border investment,” she said. “To be eligible for these benefits, the applicants must have total revenue of less than Bt500 million per year and must apply for BoI privileges before 2021.”

Duangjai said over 60 per cent of companies that receive BoI privileges each year are SMEs.

Source : The Nation