WHA Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate 2 – WHA ESIE 2

EEC Business incentives

Non-Tax

• The right to lease land for up to 50 years for residential development, and up to 99 years for commercial and industrial areas (50 years initially and 49 years on one-time renewal);
• The right to employ foreign workers with certain professions or knowledge;
• Fast-track environmental impact assessment (EIA);
• Facilitation in the issuance of work permit and visas;
• Issuance of a five-year business visa; and
• Public-Private Partnership (PPP) opportunity for investing in the EEC: Under the Eastern Economic Corridor Act, foreign investors, collaborating with the Thai government in infrastructure projects, will acquire special regulatory rights under the sped-up PPP process, which is now only a three-month-long

TAX

• Exemption from foreign land ownership restrictions for Board of Investment (BOI) promoted projects;
• One Stop Service to facilitate investment in the area. The one stop service center provides comprehensive information related to investment in the EEC. The center also offers services for licenses application, such as trade, import, and export licenses;

EEC infrastructure readiness

• Thailand has introduced five major infrastructure projects to support the prospective economic opportunities in the EEC. These include the development of a high-speed train, the expansion of the Laem Chabang deep-sea port, the expansion of the Map Thaput deep-sea port, the development of Eastern Airport City (U-Tapao airport), and a joint venture between Airbus and Thai Airways International that will build maintenance facilities in the region.  
• Additionally, the government is planning to build a digital park (EECd) in Si Racha, located on the coast of Chonburi, in hopes of developing an Eastern Economic Corridor of innovation (EECi) – a complimentary project which will provide digital connectivity.  
• On February 6, the government gave approval for a 220-kilometer high-speed train project to link three main airports – Don Mueang, Suvarnabhumi and U-Tapao Rayong-Pattaya International Airport, as part of the development of its EEC. The new airport linkages are expected to generate an economic return of 700 billion baht (US$22.3 billion). The EEC committee approved another 168 infrastructure development projects worth 989 billion baht (US$31.5 billion) for the flagship scheme.