Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra. — Bloomberg
BANGKOK: Prime Minister (PM) Paetongtarn Shinawatra has appointed a new national committee in charge of promoting the electric-vehicle industry and has decided to chair the so-called electric vehicle (EV) board by herself, according to the chief of the Board of Investment (BoI).
BoI secretary-general Narit Therdsteerasukdi said Paetongtarn has signed a PM’s order to appoint a new national committee on EV policies.
Narit said the appointment of the new EV board showed the government’s commitment to implement the 30@30 policy, that is, the policy to have 30% of all EVs made in the country by 2030.
Narit said he will be the secretary of the new EV board and the number of deputy secretaries will be increased to three from two.
The director-general of the Excise Department will be added to the post of deputy secretary, and the two others are the directors general of the Office of Industrial Economics and of the Energy Policy and Planning Office.
Narit said the new EV board will hold its first meeting next month and will consider several measures.
For example, the new committee will consider how to adjust measures if EV manufacturers fail to meet the deadline of making EVs in the country to compensate for the imports of EVs that have been sold with government subsidies under the EV 3.0 policy.
The meeting will also discuss the progress of the implementation of the EV3.5 policy without considering the next package of subsidies.
“Instead, the committee will focus on measures to attract leading global EV battery-cell makers to invest in the kingdom, as none of them have invested in Thailand so far,” Narit said. — The Nation/ANN
