Investment fair in Thailand in November

The Thai Board of Investment (BoI) expects the BoI Fair 2011, to be staged from Nov 10-25, to generate 7-8 billion baht (US$268 million) in income and attract 4-5 million visitors.
 

The agency estimated that 2-3 billion baht of the total would represent the construction cost of pavilions while 5 billion baht would be spent during the fair. The figure excludes revenue generated by Mice visitors and potential direct foreign investment in the future.
 

The exhibition will occupy 230,000 square metres at Impact Muang Thong Thani, more than double of the size of the last BoI Fair in 2000. There will be 84 outdoor pavilions with 3,000 booths and hundreds of industrial entrepreneurs exhibiting their products.
 

The fair will be held under the concept of "Going Green for the Future", reflecting the country's determination to focus on sustainable investment.
 

The fair will be preceded by a CEO Forum on Nov 4, featuring 300 participants invited to gain an overview of industrial development in Thailand.

Dr Supachai Panitchapakdi, a former Thai deputy prime minister and now secretary-general to the UN Conference on Trade and Development, will be a keynote speaker at the event.

The BoI also plans to stage the first meeting of 300 honorary investment advisers to Thailand on Nov. 30.
BoI secretary-general Atchaka Sibunruang said Thailand needed to move up to promote industries focused on the environment, high technology, software and energy conservation.

The agency plans to cut privileges such as tax waivers for some labor-intensive industries. As a result, more companies will pay corporate tax and even if the tax rate is reduced as the new government has pledged, corporate tax earnings overall should increase.