18/11/2020
Thailand's policies to support startups - Part 2In this part, we are looking into Thailand Startup Act, the Regulatory Sandbox Act, the Thailand Bayh-Dole Act and Attracting international investment resources for creative startupsFacilitating domestic start-ups
Government’s support makes Thailand, especially Bangkok, become an attractive destination for startups as well as foreign investors.
Since 2016, Thailand has announced a plan to provide an investment package of 570 million dollars for its startup ecosystem to grow the community from 2,500 startups to 10,000 startups within two years.
Besides, over the lasttwo years, Thai government has discussed a number of new essential laws, including the Thailand Startup Act, the Regulatory Sandbox Act and the Thailand Bayh-Dole Act.
Accordingly, the Regulatory Sandbox Act allows startups to experiment with innovative ideas. Before that, in 2016, the Bank of Thailand created legal corridors for startups related to payments, transfers and lending. Also, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Office of the Insurance Commission (OIC) of Thailand are actively involved in the process of issuing regulations so that the startup has free space to experiment with algorithms and insurance. The above two models are the premise for Thailand to apply the Sandbox mechanism not only in the Fintech field but also in many other areas.
The Thailand Bayh-Dole Act was approved and put into law in September this year, leading to significant changes in Thailand's research and innovation process by encouraging technology transfer from schools, universities, research institutes to private institutions. From this act, New startups are born and use these technologies to help boost the national economy, create jobs and income for researchers. The generated revenue will be returned in the form of taxes and fees to the government who will use this revenue to re-invest in R&D. Therefore, the Thailand Bayh-Dole Act claims to bring long-term benefits to Thailand's economy.
In addition, in 2019, the National Innovation Agency (NIA) - a government agency established to encourage innovation - implemented a financial support program for startups to help them progress faster and gain access to the 44 billion baht funding. The main goal of this agency is to support 3,000 innovative startups, nurture a startup ecosystem, and be able to create 1-2 unicorns within the next 5 years. The operating mechanism of NIA acts as a bridge between startups, VCs and group funds instead of providing direct funding to projects. The new strategy will include a three-part "training", "funding", and "growth" plan. In the "training" phase, the program will train and connect with masters and doctorates to help form entrepreneurs with deep tech. In the "funding" phase, the program will provide financial resources to project teams for sectoral innovation and open innovation. In the "growth" phase, NIA will connect startup entrepreneurs with international networks to expand their products into the worldwidemarket. The NIA also has a strategy of forming an innovation district to become a focus area for foreign VCs and forming startups providing innovative solutions to the public sector, especially with government procurement development programs.
Attract international investment resources for creative startups
Thailand is also known as the number one country in the world in terms of having no barriers to investment capital for creative startups. In 2018, Thailand adopted a Smart Visa program, simplifying setting up, investing and working for startups. Accordingly, those who are registered for this visa are individuals working in the S-Curve category stated in the Thailand 4.0 strategy. The visa also has separate applications for professionals, investors, and business people, supporting visa duration of up to 4 years, extending the reporting period from 90 to annual reporting, as well as no re-entry permit or work permit procedures.
The Thailand Startup Act is also being discussed by the Thai Government over the past two years to facilitate the establishment of domestic and international startups with tax incentives and capital contribution regulation. More specifically, the Thailand Startup Act draft mentioned provisions allowing startups with 100% foreign capital. If enforced, Thai startups are no longer restricted to receiving money from foreign venture capital funds or running in specific business sectors even when the founder is not Thai.
For the 1st part of this article, please visit:
http://startup.gov.vn/Pages/chi-tiet-tin-tuc.aspx?l=Tintucsukien&ItemID=313
In this part, we are looking into Thailand Startup Act, the Regulatory Sandbox Act, the Thailand Bayh-Dole Act and Attracting international investment resources for creative startups
Facilitating domestic start-ups
Government’s support makes Thailand, especially Bangkok, become an attractive destination for startups as well as foreign investors.
Since 2016, Thailand has announced a plan to provide an investment package of 570 million dollars for its startup ecosystem to grow the community from 2,500 startups to 10,000 startups within two years.
Besides, over the lasttwo years, Thai government has discussed a number of new essential laws, including the Thailand Startup Act, the Regulatory Sandbox Act and the Thailand Bayh-Dole Act.
Accordingly, the Regulatory Sandbox Act allows startups to experiment with innovative ideas. Before that, in 2016, the Bank of Thailand created legal corridors for startups related to payments, transfers and lending. Also, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Office of the Insurance Commission (OIC) of Thailand are actively involved in the process of issuing regulations so that the startup has free space to experiment with algorithms and insurance. The above two models are the premise for Thailand to apply the Sandbox mechanism not only in the Fintech field but also in many other areas.
The Thailand Bayh-Dole Act was approved and put into law in September this year, leading to significant changes in Thailand's research and innovation process by encouraging technology transfer from schools, universities, research institutes to private institutions. From this act, New startups are born and use these technologies to help boost the national economy, create jobs and income for researchers. The generated revenue will be returned in the form of taxes and fees to the government who will use this revenue to re-invest in R&D. Therefore, the Thailand Bayh-Dole Act claims to bring long-term benefits to Thailand's economy.
In addition, in 2019, the National Innovation Agency (NIA) - a government agency established to encourage innovation - implemented a financial support program for startups to help them progress faster and gain access to the 44 billion baht funding. The main goal of this agency is to support 3,000 innovative startups, nurture a startup ecosystem, and be able to create 1-2 unicorns within the next 5 years. The operating mechanism of NIA acts as a bridge between startups, VCs and group funds instead of providing direct funding to projects. The new strategy will include a three-part "training", "funding", and "growth" plan. In the "training" phase, the program will train and connect with masters and doctorates to help form entrepreneurs with deep tech. In the "funding" phase, the program will provide financial resources to project teams for sectoral innovation and open innovation. In the "growth" phase, NIA will connect startup entrepreneurs with international networks to expand their products into the worldwidemarket. The NIA also has a strategy of forming an innovation district to become a focus area for foreign VCs and forming startups providing innovative solutions to the public sector, especially with government procurement development programs.
Attract international investment resources for creative startups
Thailand is also known as the number one country in the world in terms of having no barriers to investment capital for creative startups. In 2018, Thailand adopted a Smart Visa program, simplifying setting up, investing and working for startups. Accordingly, those who are registered for this visa are individuals working in the S-Curve category stated in the Thailand 4.0 strategy. The visa also has separate applications for professionals, investors, and business people, supporting visa duration of up to 4 years, extending the reporting period from 90 to annual reporting, as well as no re-entry permit or work permit procedures.
The Thailand Startup Act is also being discussed by the Thai Government over the past two years to facilitate the establishment of domestic and international startups with tax incentives and capital contribution regulation. More specifically, the Thailand Startup Act draft mentioned provisions allowing startups with 100% foreign capital. If enforced, Thai startups are no longer restricted to receiving money from foreign venture capital funds or running in specific business sectors even when the founder is not Thai.
For the 1st part of this article, please visit:
http://startup.gov.vn/Pages/chi-tiet-tin-tuc.aspx?l=Tintucsukien&ItemID=313