A Systems View Across Time and Space
Table 4 Measures/policies/mechanisms supporting IDEs in Thailand and best-case examples from foreign countries in the aspects of talent management, ease of doing scaleup, and availability of funding
Aspect | Thailand | Aboard | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Â | Policy | Detail | Policy | Detail |
Talent management | ||||
 Import talent people | Smart Visa | Visa to attract high-quality personnel to Thailand Both academics, executives, investors, and entrepreneurs can stay in Thailand for a maximum of 4 years and work without requesting a Work Permit to report annually. Unlimited travel in and out of the country | Global Talent Visa (United Kingdom) | For talents in academia or research, arts and culture, digital technology. They can live and work in the UK for up to 5 years at a time |
Entrepreneur visa (United Kingdom) | For foreign entrepreneurs starting a new UK business or investing in an existing one. This visa is granted for 3Â years and 4Â months, extendable for an additional 2Â years if requirements are met. This visa leads to permanent residence and British citizenship | |||
Investor Visa (United Kingdom) | For investors and families investing at least £2 million in the UK. If the amount invested is large Can apply for settlement faster and finally obtained British citizenship | |||
Innovator Visa (United Kingdom) | For innovative start-up entrepreneurs wanting to establish a UK company, this business visa provides access to the UK market with a low investment of £50,000, you and your family can reside in the UK for 3 years, with the option to extend the visa for 2 years | |||
EntrePass (Singapore), | For foreign innovators, investors, or experienced entrepreneurs moving to Singapore to start a business. This visa allows eligibility for Singaporean permanent residency after 12Â months | |||
Tech.Pass Visa (Singapore) | For tech entrepreneurs, leaders, or experts. This flexible visa is valid for 2Â years, with the option to extend it for another 2Â years | |||
O-1 Visa (United States) | Temporary visa for individuals with special abilities in science, education, business, or athletics. Initial stay is up to 3Â years, extendable by 1Â year increments | |||
Tech Nation Visa (United Kingdom) | For tech founders and employees to work or do business in the UK, including fintech, AI, cyber, and gaming sectors. Visa is valid for up to 5Â years, extendable to family members, with the option to apply for further extension or permanent settlement afterward | |||
Canada startup visa (Canada) | The special startup visa program allows up to 5 founders, each owning at least 10% of the company, with sufficient personal capital. Investment of C$200,000 from a venture capital fund or $75,000 from an Angel Investor group is required. Permanent residence can be granted | |||
French Tech Visa (France) | Visa for tech startups, investors, and founders with spouses, enabling business expansion or new ventures in France. Stay for business purposes for 4Â years, extendable based on success | |||
Ireland Startup Entrepreneur Program (Ireland) | Visas for startup founders and their employees. Startup companies must be under 6Â years of age and have the potential to create well-paying jobs. They will receive a visa for the first 2Â years | |||
Italy’s Startup Visa, (Italy) | For startups < 5 years old, with ≥ 5 M euros turnover/year, 15% R&D-related expenses/turnover, 1/3 employees as Ph.D., Master's students, or researchers, and intellectual property rights. Self-employment visa, no additional permit needed. Initial 1-year stay, extendable for 2 more years | |||
 Innovation/entrepreneur development Program | Online/Offline Training Course, Bootcamp, Incubator–Accelerator Program operated by leading organization | Develop concepts, knowledge and understanding of innovation/products/services, entrepreneurial skills and investment through Online/Offline Training Course, Bootcamp, Incubator–Accelerator Program organized by leading organization in Thailand i.e • DeepTech ARI-5G (NIA) • Pioneer Innnovation Network (NIA) • Startup Thailand league 2022 (NIA) • Digital CEO (DEPA) • Young Digital CEO (DEPA) • IDE to IPO (NIA) • Startup Crash Course (Thai Startup Association) • JUMPSTART (DEPA) • Startup Connect (DIPROM) | Entrepreneurs’s Program (Australia) | Initiative to strengthen existing incubators and create the new ones to support entrepreneurship through guarantee funding, mentorship, and research |
Sector-based Work Academy Programme (SWAP) (United Kingdom) | A program for building a skilled workforce in the sector. It's a 6-week internship to recruit skilled individuals and support company growth | |||
Skills Bootcamps (United Kingdom) | UK gov's 16-week skills program for ages 19 + . Develop sector-specific skills, fast-track to job interviews with employers | |||
I-Corps (United States) | Program to foster a culture of entrepreneurship within the academic and research communities and to accelerate the process of turning breakthrough scientific discoveries into successful commercial ventures | |||
Global Accelerator Program (Malaysia) | To help global startups to be investment-ready in 4Â months and create strong community in ASEAN | |||
TusStar (China) | It's a global network of incubators, accelerators, and innovation centers that promotes collaboration among entrepreneurs, investors, and industry experts. Services include mentorship, funding, co-working spaces, and access to a vast network of partners and customers | |||
 Employee development support | Thailand Plus Package | To encourage personnel development via tax incentive: 250% corporate income tax exemption for training/training for STEM | Canada Job Grant (Canada) | Canadian government funding programs are designed to reduce costs in providing skills training to employees. The employer contributes 1/3 of the training fee, while the central and provincial governments pay 2/3 |
 Tax benefit /Wage subsidies | BOI Startup Grant | Support personnel wages of not more than 50% but not more than 5 million baht for not more than 2 years, using money from the National Competitiveness Enhancement Fund | Tech@SG (Singapore) | The company in Singapore can hire foreign employees and sponsor up to 10 people through the Employment Pass (EP) for 2 years, renewable for up to 3 years per renewal |
Thailand Plus Package | Encourage the employment of personnel by providing a 150% corporate income tax exemption for highly skilled employment in STEM | Hiring Grant (Canada) | covers 50% to 100% of an individual's wages while they work for the company for the duration of up to 52Â weeks | |
Supporting the employment of foreign personnel through tax rate benefits | The government subsidizes the wages of foreign experts. Including the relaxation of the foreign employment quota limit (from 20 to 38%) | Â | Â | |
Ease of Doing Scaleup | ||||
 Tax incentives for startups | Corporate tax deduction/exemption | Exemption of corporate income tax for 5 accounting periods for new entrepreneurs who operate innovative technology businesses | Pioneer Industry Tax Reduction (Indonedia) | In pioneer industries, companies are eligible for corporate income tax (CIT) reductions of up to 100% for a minimum of five years, extendable up to 20 years. Following this, a 50% CIT reduction is granted for the subsequent two years |
An additional 100% corporate income tax exemption of investment (excluding cost of land and working capital) is granted for BOI promoted companies listed in the SET or MAI (Additional Investment Promotion Measures) | Tax exemption scheme for new start-up companies (Singapore) | 75% exemption on the first $100,000 of regular earnings and an additional 50% exemption on the next $100,000 | ||
50% corporate income tax reduction for 5Â years for owners of companies/businesses in group A1, A2, A3 with working capital of not less than 1,000 million baht within 12Â months to stimulate investment | withholding tax exemption (Singapore) | Exemption of withholding tax on royalties for the use of patents | ||
Double Tax for Internationalisation Scheme (Singapore) | Tax deduction of $100,000 per year assessed. for salaries and expenses paid to employees Where companies send employees to volunteer and extend their services to Institutions of Public Character (IPC) | |||
Patent box regime (United Kingdom) | Reduce the corporate tax rate from 25 to 10% for some qualifying intellectual property profits | |||
IP Development Incentive (Singapore) | Income generated from the sale of intellectual property It receives a preferential tax rate with a 5% or 10% tax reduction on the percentage of qualifying IP revenue | |||
Merit-Based Incentive | 300% corporate income tax exemption for R&D expenses. In the case of only investment/R&D expenses, there will be an additional tax exemption period of up to 5Â years with no limit on amount | Australian R&D tax incentive (Australia) | Startups with less than $20 million in annual revenue will receive up to 43.5% cash back | |
RDI Tax | Up to 200% of actual expenditures can be deducted for research and development of technology and innovation. For entrepreneurs who operate innovative technology businesses | R&D Expenditure Credit (United Kingdom) | Reduce corporate tax by deducting R&D costs by 230%. In case of loss, up to 14.5% of the amount of loss can be claimed for a value tax credit | |
R&D super deduction (Singapore) | Companies carrying out qualifying R&D activities A total tax deduction of 42.5% for local R&D and 17% for overseas R&D | |||
R&D tax credit (Singapore) | 15% of R&D expenditure against corporate income tax in the current year, or 10% of qualifying R&D expenditure against corporate income tax payable in the taxable year and carried forward for the next two years. in both cases. The maximum credit is 30% of the current corporate income tax payable. and must not exceed 50% of corporate income tax when combined with other tax incentives (such as smart machinery or 5G device tax credits) | |||
R&D Tax credit (United States) | Receive up to 15.8% tax credit on R&D expenses and for some startups can be deducted from Payroll Tax | |||
SR&ED Tax Credit (Canada) | Minimum 15% tax credit and can be up to 35% of qualified SR&ED expenses. This can be carried forward 3Â years or forwarded 20Â years and can be applied to taxes due for other years | |||
 Tax incentives for investors | Tax deduction for general investment | For Angel Investors who hold shares in technology businesses for at least 2 years, their expenses can be tax deductible up to 100,000 baht | Enterprise investment scheme (United Kingdom) | up to 30% income tax deduction on investments (up to £1 m per tax year, extending to £1 m for investments in knowledge-intensive companies) |
Seed enterprise investment scheme (United Kingdom) | Up to 50% income tax deduction on investments (up to £100,000 per tax year) | |||
For Angel Investors, investment expenses can be tax deductible up to 5.6 million baht or not more than 50% of the investment (in the process of submitting an offer) | Venture Capital Trusts (United Kingdom) | Tax deduction of up to 30% up to £200,000—Tax, free dividends and no CGT on profits | ||
Social Investment Tax Relief (United Kingdom) | Investors making eligible investments through SITR can receive a tax deduction of 30% of the investment cost. Investments can be made in the form of equity or debt, and individuals can defer capital gains tax (CGT) but must be paid when sold or redeemed | |||
Capital gain tax | For investors in venture capital (VC), exemption from personal income tax and corporate income tax on dividends Profit from sale/transfer of shares Revenue from CVC | Capital gain tax (United Kingdom) | Exemption if holding shares for 3Â years with co-investment through VCT or bringing that profit back to reinvest | |
Exemption of corporate income tax on dividends Profit from the sale/transfer of shares for 10Â years for venture capital (VC) ventures in technology-based companies. and use technology to generate income of not less than 80 percent | Venture Capital Investment Schemes (United Kingdom) | Offering tax relief to investor who buy new shares in the company | ||
 Other Incentives | Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) | Non-listed companies can sell shares to executives, employees, or creditors | Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) Share Options (United Kingdom) | Capital Gain Tax reduces to 10% |
Convertible Debenture | Securing authorization from the SEC to issue convertible debentures through a private placement allows the company to offer them to directors and employees without restrictions on the number of investors or sales value, subject to identity verification | Writing-Down Allowance (Singapore) | can claim an annual deduction on the capital expenditure incurred to acquire qualifying IP assets, such as patents, trademarks, copyrights, and registered designs. The deduction can be claimed over a period of five years or the useful life of the IP asset, whichever is shorter | |
Receiving investment from Inno Bridge Fund in the amount of 9 times the monthly expenses and not exceeding 3,000,000 baht/person | ||||
Availability of Funding | ||||
 Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme | dVenture | Offers funding support to both early stage and growth startups through investments, accompanied by a range of value-added services aimed at facilitating and enhancing the development of these startups | Innovate UK (United Kingdom) | Help innovation-based businesses to develop new product, services, and processes to grow and scaleup through competition-based funding opportunities |
Digital Startup Fund | Provide funding support to early stage and growth startups in the form of grants and direct investment (with share option) | London Co-Investment Fund (United Kingdom) | A £25 million grant from the London Economic Action Partnership (LEAP) and backed by the Mayor of London. The venture fund invests in seed rounds between £250,000–£1,500,000 led by selected venture capital partners | |
Research Gap Fund | Support expenses for product/innovation development, not more than 75% of the project value, not more than 2 million baht for technology businesses, not more than 800,000 baht for digital business | British Patient Capital (United Kingdom) | Offer substantial long-term funding support to entrepreneurs leading innovation-driven businesses with a strong focus on research and development, aiming to accelerate their scale-up | |
Start-up Voucher | Support for marketing consulting fees for innovative technology companies/enterprises not more than 75% of the project value (< 800,000 baht) | Research and Innovation Scheme for Companies (Singapore) | Providing financial support of up to 50% of the qualifying expenses for startups in innovation and technology. Including a special deduction of 250% of qualifying R&D costs for R&D conducted in Singapore | |
Open Innovation Fund | Funding support 75% but not more than 1.5 million baht for the trial process—product prototype trial for innovative startups in the field of Bioeconomy, Manufacturing and Circular Economy and Service and Sharing Economy | Innovation Development Scheme (Singapore) | Grants of up to 50% of the cost to encourage companies to engage and develop their product, process, and application innovation capabilities. The support period is 3 years | |
MIND CREDIT Fund | Grants up to 1 million baht per project and no more than 75% of the project value for a period of 1Â year for innovation startups | Special Situation Fund for Startups (Singapore) | For startups that have been established in Singapore for less than 10Â years, the company is developing/ producing/ and selling innovative technologies or services. It backed S$216 million in funding for 25 promising tech startups based in Singapore | |
Big-Win Strategy | Funding for startups in the focus industry | Startup SG Equity (Singapore) | Co-invest with VC firms and investment arm of corporates around the world to feed funds in to early stage startups. It also provides value-added services | |
| Â | Â | Early stage Venture Fund (Singapore) | Provide funds into startups and offer a buyout option for venture capitalists to acquire the government's stake at cost plus interest, providing the opportunity for upside returns | |
| Â | Â | Corporate Venture Launchpad 2.0 (Singapore) | Provide matching fund and value-added service | |
| Â | Â | Grant-scheme for Startups (Croatia) | To assist startups in finalizing their product/service prototype and providing support for its demonstration and testing in a competitive environment | |
| Â | Â | Bilateral R&D incentive program (Isarael) | Granting funds to entrepreneurs to promote international collaboration on R&D projects | |
| Â | Â | Ideation (Tnufa) Incentive program (Isarael) | Offer grants to entrepreneurs advancing innovative technological concepts to the R&D stage | |
| Â | Â | CanExport Innovation (Canada) | Access to funding of up to $75,000 to assist with research and development (R&D) for the technology. It covers up to 75% of the cost of operating and signing R&D agreements with international partners and investors | |
 IDEs/Startups Loan | Low interest loans | For innovative companies in the process of expanding their business Low-interest loans in the amount not exceeding 5 million baht, not exceeding 5 years | Start-Up Loans (United Kingdom) | Loan amounts up to £25,000 with a fixed interest rate of 6% per annum (per annum), repaid over 1–5 years, 12 months of free consultation |
Interest loan | 0% interest loans for 3 years for innovative Agtech companies | Enisa Participative Loans (Spain) | Provide financial incentives for innovative startup projects (€25000-€1500000 with 7–9 years maturity and 5–7 years interest only period) | |
University Holding Company | CU enterprise | A holding company within Chulalongkorn University established to bolster innovation-based business groups through innovation incubation and investment, thereby elevating Thailand's competitiveness on the international stage | TusHoldings Co Ltd. (China) | TusHoldings is state-owned enterprise affiliated with Tsinghua University in China. They provide incubation services, funding opportunities, and access to a vast network of resources and partnerships |
NUS Enterprise (Singapore) | Entrepreneurship Group of the National University of Singapore (NUS) plays a key role in the development of innovation and entrepreneurship at NUS | |||
UnternehmerTUM (Germany) | Leading center for innovation and innovation-based businesses (IDEs), established with the aim of turning inventions into scalable innovation and innovation-based businesses | |||
Public–Private Partnership Co-Investment Platform | Venture capital fund | Venture capital in technology business not exceeding 50% of registered capital | GOV–PACT (United Kingdom) | A government agency dedicated to assisting SMEs/startups in developing and testing innovative solutions not yet available in the market. The agency aims to enhance the opportunity for these SMEs/startups to offer solutions to the government while also fostering their innovation capabilities |
Innovation and Skills Plan: Superclusters (Canada) | Provide investments (co-funded by private sector) and strengthens connection between entrepreneurs, startups, universities, and government partners. Government funding that helps offset up to 50% of project costs by industry | |||
Research grants with the private sector | The private sector invests with institutions, both monetary and non-monetary, not less than 60%. Sciene Park supports a budget of not more than 40% of the project value | The Innovation and Technology Venture Fund (Hong Kong) | Co-invest in technology startups with private venture capital fund | |
Seed Incentive Program (Isarael) | Co-investment between the government or international VCs and Angel investor to incentivize investor to invest in high-risk, early stage startups | |||