Nakheel wins incentives for 5-star riverside hotel

The Board of Investment (BoI) has approved tax incentives for United Arab Emirates property giant Nakheel International to build a five-star hotel on the banks of the Chao Phya River.

The project was submitted by City Resort (Bangkok), in which Nakheel International is the major shareholder. The 15-floor hotel will be located on 13 rai of land and will have 195 rooms.

The company plans to complete the project within three years.

Industry Minister Pracha Promnok said on Friday that construction would start right away now that it had been granted incentives by the BoI.

"We will promote investment in service and lifestyle sectors to aid recovery of the country's tourism sector in response to government policy," he said.

Nakheel International is a subsidiary of Nakheel, which is a real-estate titan in the UAE. One of its best-known projects is Dubai's three dramatic palm-shaped resort islands.

Last month it announced plans to gear up its investments outside its domestic market by partnerships in individual overseas countries.

The BoI also granted incentives to Cal Comp Electronics (Thailand) and Delta Electronics (Thailand) to expand their production capacity for electronic and electric parts.

Cal Comp will spend Bt1.648 billion to boost printed-circuit-board assembly by 150 million pieces per annum. The plant is located in Samut Sakhon province.

Delta Electronics' project is to expand the production capacity of direct-circuit fans with an investment of Bt458 million in its plant on the Wellgrow Industrial Estate.

"Investment from Taiwanese companies in Thailand has increased continuously, mostly in the auto-parts, electronics and petrochemical industries," Pracha said.

Due to the rising Taiwanese investment, the BoI plans to open an office in Taipei late this month.

Since the agency's new board was formed last month it has approved 310 applications with a combined investment of Bt129 billion. Pracha said it would accelerate approval of the remaining applications by year-end.