Strategy plans ‘ready in 60 days’

The six master plans to accompany the 20-year national strategy will be discussed and fleshed out in the next two months, according to a government source.

The master plans cover six essential areas of national administration: security, national competitiveness, human resource development, social equality, quality of life enhancement and environment, and government sector improvements.

The source said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha chaired a national strategy meeting yesterday, which acknowledged the National Legislative Assembly (NLA)’s approval of the six draft master plans on July 6. They have been presented for royal endorsement.

The strategy will span 20 years during which the six master plans will be implemented. The implementation of the plans will be divided into two phases, each lasting 10 years.

The source said the meeting yesterday also outlined the so-called structure needed to link the national strategy with auxiliary plans such as national reforms.

Officials from state agencies directly involved with the formulation of the master plans will come together and thrash out the content of the respective plans at a workshop between Aug 6-8. After that, input from the workshops will be incorporated into the six master plans to be produced by September.

The finished plans are due to be forwarded to the national strategy committee and the cabinet between October and November, according to the source.

The meeting yesterday also said the master plans must function as essential organs of the national strategy as they spell out how it will materialise via different projects and programmes. These projects must contain a clear action plan with cabinet ministers or heads of government agencies in charge of them.

The source added the meeting stressed the master plans must be executed within allocated budgets in keeping with fiscal discipline.

Last month, the Pheu Thai Party slammed both the 20-year national strategic and reform plans as political “traps”.