EEC’s Secretary-General “Chula Sukmanop” Unveils His Vision to Move Forward the Eastern Economic Corridor Scheme to Attract Investors from All Over the World, Fulfilling the Baht 2.2 Trillion BCG Goal within 5 Years, Hasten to Clear Off Basic Infrastructure Issues in Bid to Bring in More Jobs, More Incomes Directly to Thai Nation. 

April 4, 2023 Chula Sukmanop, Secretary-General of the Eastern Economic Corridor Office of Thailand (EECO), reveals at a media conference to announce his management vision after officially assumed the post on April 1, 2023 that he is determined to bring in the best of his knowledge, capability and experiences to plan and execute for the EECO to become a new-age public organization that is well-managed, modern, and capable of convincing Thais to understand the necessity of the Eastern Economic Corridor’s (EEC) area development scheme. 

Under his management vision 2023-2027, the focus will be placed upon stepping up the EEC to become “A model of sustainable development area which Thais pin their hopes to, while being a prime target of investors and international communities.” An urgent task is to review the EEC’s overall development plan to align with the future global context, taking into account factors from situations of the past and the present, such as impacts from the Covid-19, the global economic recession, the approaching of the ageing society, as well as trends and directions of future industries. The new plan will facilitate investments in the next 5 years, upgrading its capability to attract investors from new industries, and aligning with investment trends in Thailand and internationally.

“The guidelines for facilitating investment, which is regarded as the main factor, and for hastening the confidence of investors over the EEC scheme comprised of : 1) Land: EECO will be push forward and discussed with industrial land developers to designate areas for attracting each group of businesses. 2) Labour: EECO is preparing to develop high-skill labors in the area to become part of the package to attract investors who will be convinced that the Eastern Economic Corridor has a pool of workforce with skills matched to their certain needs. 3) Law and regulations: EECO is preparing to amend its legal and regulatory mechanism to make it easier for investors and to facilitate their investments in the EEC area.  4) Logistics infrastructure: EECO will enhance the efficiency of transport and logistics infrastructure to bring down the operating costs of investors in the area.  The agency has maintained its primary target to draw in a Baht 2.2 trillion worth of total investments into the country, that will help the economy to grow by 5 per cent annually, and will strive for its maximum achievement,” says the EECO’s Secretary-General.

Furthermore, the EECO has laid down frameworks for its key missions to move forward the sustainable area development model as the following:

1. Managing the important infrastructure projects to push ahead EEC’s principal investment schemes.

A plan is devised for managing the 4 principles infrastructure projects (EEC Project List), to accelerate negotiations with the private sectors, finding out solutions to  alleviating problems, speeding up a conclusion and being able to execute the projects as planned within 2023. The projects included the High Speed Rail Linked 3 Airports project whose target is to issue the Notice to Proceed (NTP) to allow the private developers to commence the construction and to hand over the right to use the land on the Phyathai-Donmuang section to the developers;  The U-Tapao International Airport and the Eastern Aerotropolis Development Project whose target is to issue the NTP and the invitation to bid for the construction of the Runway 2;  to follow up the completion of land reclamation for the Map Ta Phut Port Phase 3, and the Laem Chabang Port Phase 3, Berth F projects.  

Furthermore, the EECO will spearhead new and important Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects including the Pluak Daeng 2 Hospital projects that will help elevating the quality of healthcare services for residents in the EEC area within a near future. All these efforts will help enhancing the confidence of investors, reaffirming the progress of the EEC scheme and its ability to execute as planned, and performing as a new drive to lure in investors from all over the world. 

2. Pushing forward investments in targeted industries, driving up existing projects and initiating new ones. 

The objective is to achieve a goal to bring in a total investment of Bt2.2 trillion, fostering new investments valued at Bt 400 billion per annum - comprising of the baseline investments amounted to Bt250 billion per annum, and additional investments totaling Bt150 billion from the new industries which possess a high potential including new-age medical, logistics, and agriculture innovations under the Green Economy concept or the Bio-Circular-Green Economy (BCG). The emphasis will be placed upon attracting the foreign investors who possess the matched potential. 

Furthermore, EECO will push for the materialization of the important plans to boost the EEC’s status as a targeted investment area such as through organizing roadshows to attract investors in targeted industries, promoting investments in the special economic zone and special investment activities, designating additional special promotion zones for special investment activities such as the Pluak Daeng 2 Hospital project, developing the OSS system to link authorized agencies to enabling a true one-stop service, as well as developing the EEC workforce to become a veteran sales team  capable of persuading certain investors for each of the targeted industries.   

This 2023 will be the year of investment for penetrating targeted investors even further. Each industry will be clustered to visualize the reservations and negotiations with investors for continuing investments in the area.

3. Enhancing the quality of life through collaborating with the community. 

Among the important plans included to press ahead with the development of human resources in collaboration with the industrial sector continuously, enhance the well-being, upgrade the quality of life of residents in the area, develope businesses, careers, boost incomes and promote tourism in the EEC, as well as promote the community networks to enable them to reap benefits and achieve a better quality of life from the development.  Furthermore, the EECO will pursue its mission on area and community development, which is as an important foundation.

It will take care of the quality of life of the communities in a continuous and sustainable manner. Especially for the potential communities, it will hasten development of the local economy at the villager level, supporting e-commerce, health tourism and wellness that can help generate additional incomes to the communities, as well as develop education and environmental management to uplift the quality of life of residents in the EEC area, in a continuous and sustainable way.