Private companies have asked for government support to upgrade their ageing machines in the industrial sector, according to the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).
The request was made at a meeting of the ad hoc committee to promote new targeted industries, which was chaired by the industry minister, said Katiya Greigarn, vice-chairman of the FTI.
Mr Katiya said state support would help spur demand for automation and robotic products, which the government is trying to promote by setting up a cluster to support the supply chain.
"Big companies, which have sufficient capital to invest in high-technology machines, also demanded higher tax exemption, calculated from their machines, in order to help them pay less tax," said Mr Katiya.
At the other end, the private sector also asked for soft loans for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the industrial sector to help finance investment in new machines since most of the SMEs have insufficient capital to do so, he said.
Mr Katiya said since the cluster policy had not yet materialised or started producing any high-tech machines for industry, most machines would have to be imported. That would make these products expensive for Thai SMEs and hence call for help from the government.
He said this measure was also a main strategy given by newly elected chairman of the FTI, Chen Namchaisiri, who aimed to help improve the productivity and competitiveness of the industrial sector as a whole.
Mr Katiya said the global trend of industrial sector was going towards use of contemporary automation, data exchange and manufacturing technologies in the production process, which increases efficiency and reduces waste.
It is known as the so-called industry 4.0, which is the fourth stage of industrial revolution.
He said industry 1.0 or the first stage relied mainly on production by human beings, while industry 2.0 relied on electric motor machines and 3.0 relied on automation.
Mr Katiyta said most factories in Thailand are in the stages of industry 2.0 and 3.0, with only a small number in industry 4.0, mostly foreign companies.
He said the government had set a goal for the Thai industrial sector to rely mostly on technology of the fourth stage by 2025, which will require full efforts from both the public and private sectors.
To develop Thai industry to enter the 4.0 stage, Mr Katiya said companies required supplies of automation systems, IT systems and system integrators, which would act as advisers for the companies to gradually change to the 4.0 stage.