The Federation of Thai Industries prepares a recovery plan to boost the grassroots economy and rebuild industry.

The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) has prepared a recovery plan to boost the grassroots economy and rebuild industry through a local economy scheme to cope with the coronavirus outbreak.

The economic recovery plan aims to help businesses move towards highvalue-added products and sustainable growth in line with government policy.

Kriangkrai Tiannukul, FTI vicechairman, said the recovery plan covers 11 clusters from 45 industries, including targeted industries under the S-curve scheme.

“The FTI wants to promote Thailand’s products through the Made in

Thailand project because the Covid-19 outbreak has made many countries look to make their supply chains self-reliant and reduce imports,” he said.

The agency plans to cooperate with research institutes and educational institutes to further develop industrial supply chains from upstream to downstream to reduce reliance on overseas imports.

“The Covid-19 outbreak has brought about a global industrial revolution and is forcing all businesses to make changes,” Mr Kriangkrai said.

The 11 clusters include food and processing, auto parts, automotive, steel and iron, textiles and garments, medical devices and electronics.

The FTI said the S-curve scheme, which was designed by the government to make Thailand a hub of technology and innovation, is expected to receive a boost in funding from the economic recovery plan.

The 12 targeted S-curve industries are cars; smart electronics; affluent, medical and wellness tourism; agriculture and biotechnology; food; robotics for industry; logistics and aviation; biofuels and biochemicals; digital; medical services; defence; and education development.

“The digital, medical devices and robotics and automation sectors will be the first priority that FTI aims to develop due to the launch of 5G and spread of Covid-19 changing lifestyles around the world,” Mr Kriangkrai said.