Thailand advised to tackle weaknesses

Thailand is being urged to continue tackling areas of weakness, including the quality of public institutions, corporate ethics and governance standards, product and market efficiency enhancement, technology infrastructure investment, innovation ecosystem development, and education and skills development.

Anti-corruption, in particular, needs continued and serious action, as corruption has a direct impact on the confidence of investors and the business sector, Justin Wood, Asia-Pacific head of the World Economic Forum (WEF), said at a workshop on “Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth: Navigating Towards Thailand 4.0” co-hosted by the Commerce Ministry, the National Economic and Social Development Board and the WEF.

Mr Wood said a key challenge for Thailand is technological transformation, as in the future robots will be used in the manufacturing sector to replace humans, possibly leading to mass unemployment.

Labour skills development is another agenda item Thailand needs to tackle, he said.

“The WEF hopes Thailand will find ways to accelerate public-private action for inclusive and sustainable growth as the top of the policy agenda,” Mr Wood said.

According to the latest WEF global competitiveness report in September, Thailand’s world competitiveness ranking this year rose two notches to 32nd out of 137 countries, thanks to improvements in infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, health and education development, market efficiency, financial market development and technological readiness.

Thailand ranked third among nine Asean countries, following Singapore (third) and Malaysia (23rd). Indonesia ranked 36th, Brunei 46th, Vietnam 55th, the Philippines 56th, Cambodia 94th and Laos 98th.

Switzerland was No.1, followed by the US and Singapore.

Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said yesterday at the same event that the government next year will focus on development of local economies, with an aim to raise the purchasing power of local people and local communities.

The government plans next year to encourage local administrative organisations to play a greater role in partnering with local people and communities to propose their own development projects for public health, education, community t ourism and community improvement.