The Board of Investment (BOI) is to consider case-by-case proposals in granting various incentives and concessions for investors, reverting back to the previous system of approving foreign investments and doing away with the minimum entry level of US$ 3 million for investors to qualify for these concessions which was introduced in the 2011 budget, official sources said.
The higher threshold will not be necessary for investments under the BOI regulations which will confer certain concessions. A cabinet paper seeking approval to scrap the $3 million minimum entry level to attract more foreign investors rather than looking at mega investors will be presented soon, the sources revealed.
The minimum entry level for concessions were spelled out in the last budget and adopted. But the government has decided to change this system because it has failed to draw investors.
The new plan will allow all potential investors, be they from the Small and Medium sector or any other, to invest going through a BOI application process, a senior official of the Finance Ministry said.
The BOI will be balancing its concessions to fall in line with those of the Inland Revenue Law and this process is now on. It expects to increase Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) through speedier decision making, streamlined processes of approval, faster transaction, clarity on policies etc. But this system is still not in place, several local agents of foreign investors told the Business Times. Unless this lethargic bureaucracy at the BOI improves, FDIs cannot be increased, they said. |
E-mail
