Asia was once known for cheap labor – now, businesses are being urged to invest in technology instead.

In Thailand – Southeast Asia's second-largest economy – the government offers a range of incentives for companies to adopt new techniques.

“We want to drive economic growth through innovation and you can't do that without science and technology,” said Thailand's Board of Investment Secretary-General Duangjai Asawachintachit.

CCS Advance Tech, a company at Nonthaburi just outside Bangkok, started out as a local lathe shop producing metal molds and car parts.

Through investing heavily in technology it diversified into manufacturing aerospace and aviation components, and now supplies global companies including Boeing and Airbus.

Its expansion has seen revenue grow by 400 percent.

The company has been supported by the Thai Board of Investment, through a scheme providing tax relief for businesses investing in technology.

“I think the Board of Investment and the Thai government is always looking to make this country a technology and innovation country,” said CCS Advance Tech Chief Executive Officer Ketan Pole.

“And investment in technology was always a way of life for us at CCS, without technology we cannot come to this level.”

The Thai government believes the country's industry needs to transform from general manufacturing to producing high-value goods if it's to continue to grow.

It's encouraging companies to invest in science and innovation by providing tax holidays and duty exemptions on the import of specialized machinery and materials.

“In some sectors, we might have our own technologies, Thai companies have been investing and we have very well established industries such as agro-processing and so on, but at the same time we still need a lot of foreign technology so this policy is targeted at both local and foreign companies, said Asawachintachit.

“Before we used to give tax incentives based on where a company was located to attract industry to under-developed areas, but now we have changed our approach by focusing on the level of technology involved.

 “More incentives will be given to projects involving high technologies.”

The Thai government says these incentives are a catalyst, encouraging businesses to invest in advanced technology.

Ketan Pole, from CCS Advance Tech, said: “Our company was started by a Thai-Chinese owner with one man and one machine.

“From then, the journey has been very aggressive with technology and we have never looked back, all the time we were looking for something new.

“Previously Thailand was labor intensive so it is the focus of the Board of Investment, Ministry for Industry and the government to go for new markets, new technology and new kinds of industry.

The government's policy is called ‘Thailand 4.0', the fourth stage of industrial development in the country.  

Stage one was agriculture; stage two, light industry; stage three, wide-scale manufacturing and now four is the adoption of the latest technology.