BOI Courts Hyundai, T-Robotics, COSMAX for High-Tech Investment
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The BOI’s South Korea roadshow aimed to attract Hyundai, T-Robotics, and COSMAX for high-tech investment, building on existing operations to move into EVs and promote Thailand as an ASEAN production base. BOI Secretary‑General Nariterm Tead-sitisak revealed that on September 28‑29, 2026 he led a government‑private delegation to Seoul to discuss investment plans with leading Korean firms Hyundai, T‑Robotics and COSMAX. In addition, the BOI met with the Korea Federation of Industries (FKI) to pursue investment in target industries and future technologies, seeking to upgrade existing Korean investments in Thailand into higher‑value activities such as R&D, smart manufacturing, advanced technology use, and linking Thai suppliers to global supply chains.
Regarding Hyundai, discussions centered on elevating its electric‑vehicle and battery plant in Samut Prakan, which started commercial production in May 2026, toward smart‑manufacturing R&D and the development of Thai suppliers.
T‑Robotics urged expanding its investment in Thailand to serve the semiconductor, advanced electronics, and smart manufacturing sectors, including nurturing robotics talent and establishing a domestic parts supply chain, and expressed interest in joining the Skill Bridge program.
COSMAX said it plans to invest more than 1.8 billion baht to expand its Samut Prakan factory, upgrading to smart‑manufacturing systems and improving product‑testing standards, while the BOI pushes for greater R&D and training to make Thailand an ASEAN hub for health‑and‑beauty research and innovation, with increased use of Thai raw materials.
The FKI noted that Korean companies are focusing on three main fields—semiconductors, robotics, physical AI, and AI data centers—and that Korean investment in ASEAN has more than doubled since 2010 to roughly $10 billion annually. Between 2021 and the first half of 2026, South Korean firms filed 167 investment‑promotion projects in Thailand worth over 65.9 billion baht, mainly in electronics, electrical appliances, machinery, automation, metals, materials and chemicals, showing the existing Korean investment base that the BOI wants to upgrade into higher‑technology, higher‑value activities.
