The EABC was recently invited to attend the opening ceremony of the Automotive Summit organized by Thailand Automotive Institute. The EABC was more than delighted to support the event as a sponsor, striving for the enhancement of knowledge and innovation of testing technology, and the automotive and auto parts testing standards in ASEAN, and what will eventually become the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), through effective business networking and collaborations with the relevant government authorities, business executives, business leader and auto parts manufacturers in the region.

The Automotive Summit is one of the major events of the ASEAN Automotive Industry. The ceremony began with a Welcome Speech by Mr. Vichai Jirathiyut; President of the Thailand Automotive Institute (TAI), followed by a talk on the “Rebirth of the UK’s Automotive Industry: UK Policy and Automotive Road Map” by Mr. Ben Reynolds; Vice President of Mira-Asia. The event also featured a lecture by Mr. Chaiyavat Tangkrock-Olan; Director of Community Products Standard Division from the Thai Industrial Standards Institute, on the topic of “ASEAN Automotive Regulation: Standard and quality of Vehicle and Parts to Global Market”

Mr. Jan Ehlen; a member and the representative of the EABC’s Automotive working group, participated in a 4-way Panel discussion on the topic of “Automotive Policy and Investment in ASEAN”. The panellists also included Mr. Wu Huan; President of SAIC Motor-CP, Mr. Thanawat Koomsin; President of Thailand Automotive Industry Association (TAIA) and Mr. Mr. Vichai Jirathiyut; President of Thailand Automotive Institute (TAI).

In the discussion Mr Jan Ehlen highlighted the attractiveness of the ASEAN market with its strong GDP growth, but also brought to centre stage several observations from an European perspective.

Among others, he explained that the over proportionally high taxes on premium cars in ASEAN act as “anti-innovation taxes” that limit high-tech components and innovative product features from gaining a stronger foothold in ASEAN. To this end, he also suggested a more balanced approach for future national automotive policies that currently mostly focus on entry and mass market segments.
In order for ASEAN to develop into a global production hub, Mr Ehlen furthermore recommended for governments and automakers to jointly develop an ASEAN automotive strategy that needs to find answers to the following questions:
1.  How to best stimulate innovation and global competitiveness of the ASEAN automotive industry?
2. How serious is ASEAN about road & vehicle safety and protecting the environment?
3. How can ASEAN best improve income per capita and boost workforce skills within the automotive sector?

Over the course of the discussion Mr Vichai Jirathiyut; President of Thailand Automotive Institute (TAI) disclosed breaking news, that the Thai Cabinet had finally approved the ‘Proving Ground project’, after being proposed for many years and that the project would be located in the Sanam Chai Khet district, in Chachoengsao Province. This development was excitedly welcomed by many in the business community, many of whom expressed that it was a good sign to see the Thai government take further steps to secure the Kingdom’s Automotive Industry’s future development.