A growing number of Thai and international companies are investing in the medical industry in Thailand to help address the COVID-19 situation and build on the country’s potential for development as a medical hub, according to the Board of Investment (BOI).
BOI Secretary General Duangjai Asawachintachit said that BOI aims to promote Thailand as an industrial base to produce medical supplies. During the first six months of 2020, both Thai and international investors filed 50 project applications for the medical sector. The projects are valued at 12.69 billion baht (USD400 million).
They include the production of medical devices or supplies, such as rubber gloves and hygienic masks, as well as the manufacturing of non-woven fabric to be used as raw materials in the production of hygienic masks and medical devices.
Ms. Duangjai said, “We have approved more than 80 percent of the projects in order to respond to the situation, while paving the way for Thailand’s longer-term development as a manufacturing hub for medical devices and supplies.”
Moreover, BOI recently approved a biotechnology development project undertaken by KinGen Biotech, a 50-50 joint venture between South Korean biotech firm Genexine and Thailand’s KinGen Holdings Co., Ltd.
The company has pledged to invest 406 million baht (around USD12.8 million) to develop and manufacture in Thailand bioactive compounds, such as Plasmid DNA and Fusion Protein. The venture will work closely with King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi in local research and development as well as the manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals.
Source The Government Public Relations Department, Thailand
