Thailand and South Korea plan to team up for future investment and market research on the robotics sector in the government's flagship Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) scheme.
The Board of Investment (BoI) is joining with Asean-Korea Centre (AKC) and Korea Institute for Robot Industry Advancement (KIRIA) for this project.
South Korean counterparts will bring 13 companies with expertise in industrial robotics to visit the three EEC provinces on Thursday. The BoI expects to bring 40 Thai companies to the business matching event with South Korean firms.
The Thai companies are mainly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), expected to act as suppliers for South Korean companies that invest in the EEC, said Narit Therdsteerasukdi, BoI's deputy secretary-general.
"The group from South Korea is led by Samsung and LG, with the Thai Automation and Robotics Association to host the 40 SMEs in the business matching event," he said.
Mr Narit said the South Korean government, led by President Moon Jae-in, has a New Southern Policy to explore potential investment cooperation in innovation, technology and digital sectors. Southeast Asia is one target for this policy as the region has dynamic economic growth.
The BoI reported South Korea ranked eighth for foreign direct investment here, with a total value of 14.73 billion baht from 92 projects during 2015-2018. Of this value, 3.3 billion baht in 39 projects came from robotics and automation companies.
Lee Hyuk, secretary-general of AKC, said Thailand is the most attractive investment destination in Southeast Asia thanks to the government's Industry 4.0 initiative.
"South Korean companies have plenty of experience with this 4.0 stage, as they own many robotics-related technologies that are globally competitive such as smart processing, utilisation levels and industrial automation," said Mr Lee.
Kim Jong-heon, director of KIRIA, said of the 13 Korean companies, three have already agreed to become business partners with Thai companies.
"Thailand's industrial sector is expected to have high demand for robotics in the near future," said Mr Kim.
Thiti Wongthanasak, managing director of Uni Arc Co, said robotics demand in Thailand will grow by 15-20% annually over the next 10-15 years because of new smart factories and the government's S-curve policy.
Uni Arc, a robotics and welding solution provider, is focusing on SMEs keen to upgrade to higher technology at their factories. He forecasts robotics demand in Thailand will average 6,000-6,500 units per year.
In a related development, Uni Arc launched a soft loan credit with a low rate of interest and long instalment plan for SMEs. It teamed up with five financial institutes -- BOT Lease (Thailand), BSL Leasing, Bangkok Grand Pacific Lease, Thai Orix Leasing and SMFL Leasing (Thailand) -- to provide the five-year credit loans.
"We expect this project to support 300 SMEs, adding more than 300 million baht to their revenue," said Mr Thiti. "The term loans have a suitable time frame because the robotics life span is roughly 10-12 years, making five years sufficient for companies to break even."