BANGKOK (BERNAMA) – Thailand’s Semiconductor Board has approved a national strategy framework and skilled workforce development plan to prepare for an anticipated wave of foreign investments totalling THB500 billion over the next five years.

The Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) secretary-general Narit Therdsteerasukdi stated the country’s newly appointed National Semiconductor and Advanced Electronics Policy Committee (Semiconductor Board), chaired by Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, approved the framework for Thailand’s national semiconductor strategy yesterday.

He said it is a strategy for the development of a skilled workforce to prepare for a new wave of foreign direct investments (FDI) in the sector that could bring at least THB500 billion (USD15 billion) into the country by 2029 as per the government’s target.

“We have had promising meetings with many key investors in the sector, and we are preparing the ecosystem to ensure that Thailand is ready to welcome their investments,” Narit said in a statement after the meeting yesterday.

Narit said the workforce development strategy includes training, upskilling, and reskilling programmes for over 86,000 individuals, with a focus on producing 1,400 master’s and PhD-level researchers under a talent development scheme.

To refine the strategy, he said the BOI will collaborate with a leading global consulting firm for a detailed study based on the approved framework.

For the record, applications for investment promotion in Thailand in the first nine months of 2024 increased 42 per cent year-on-year in value to a combined THB722.5 billion, the highest level since 2015, led by a significant inflow of FDI in large projects in target sectors including the electrical appliances and electronics (E&E), and data centres.

During the period, the E&E sector led with 291 projects worth a combined THB183.4 billion, with several printed circuit board applications also being filed this year.

Meanwhile, Narit said the Thailand Electric Vehicle (EV) Board, also chaired by Paetongtarn, approved extensions for the production timelines of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and included mild hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) in the hybrid incentive package to support the industry’s electrification efforts. He said the EV Board chaired by Paetongtarn has approved giving more time to makers of BEV to meet their production commitment under the so-called EV 3.0 incentive package that required them to produce locally to compensate for the vehicles they imported from the start of the subsidies programme in 2022 to end 2023.

“The measures approved today by the EV Board further demonstrate our commitment to the electrification of the whole automotive industry and the full support we are providing to manufacturers during the transition,” he added.