To believe reports, Thailand is likely to become the leader of MRO in the Southeast Asia by giving support to a rapidly extending aerospace sector through the Board of Investment (BOI) incentives. This board has already approved promotion incentives for those companies that choose the Kingdom as the base for their aircraft maintenance, overhaul activity, and repair.
It is forecasted that Thailand’s MRO expenditure will reach to a total amount of USD $10.6 million, with engine, component MRO and engine, being particularly targeted. As the aviation market globally shifts east and the demand for air travel is rising, a notable number of opportunities in the aerospace manufacturing are created.
Now, the thing is why people would choose Thailand for their aerospace industry?
Simply because of its geographic position and expertise in this industry. Thailand’s MRO flagship is going to be the Eastern Airport City, anchored by the U-Tapao airport in the EEC.
This project, which is a part of a 15-year aviation development plan for the country, necessitates an expansion of the U-Tapao passenger capacity from 5 million to 54 million passengers in the next 30 years. The MRO hub will be well connected by rail, sea, and roadway, to other important airports such as Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang International Airports.
Apart from this, a new construction has been started of a new landing gear overhaul in Choburi, Thailand. It will have state-of-the-art machines and therefore will include the necessary processes for a complete in-house repair and overhaul of the landing gears.
So, what incentive does BOI offer?
Companies expanding to Thailand receive investment incentives like 8 years of corporate income tax exemption, and an additional 5 years of 50% reduction of corporate income tax. Also, the board offers another 2 to 4 years of corporate income tax exemption for the investment projects that are based in the Aerotropolis and pair with the local educational institutions on development initiatives of the workforce.
