PM fails to impress private sector

However, they think she has been fairly able to deal with situations such as inflation, preparation to counter the impact of the euro-debt crisis, and for the upcoming Asean Economic Community (AEC).
Business persons had not expected much from her as a leader, as they believed her brother – former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra – would call the shots, and economic ministerial teams would incubate policy planning and implementation.
However, overall they say she looks “good” as she does not hit back when criticised, she has softened political tension and also let governmental work move on.
Some businesses avoided evaluating her leadership but instead touched on the performance of her government.

PAIBOON PONSUWANNA, chairman of the Thai National Shippers’ Council, gave Yingluck less than 50 points out of 100 for her leadership of the country’s economy.
He said “during the one year of her administration, the PM has done nothing to drive economic growth, especially export growth, especially considering the global crunch resulting from the EU debt crisis.
Some of her government’s policies such as the minimum wage increase have destroyed Thai export competitiveness as well as created cost of living problems for the people.
Although Yingluck led a meeting for export proposals and instructed the ministry to set up working committees to boost trade growth, the government has not shown any real action, he added.
He said the PM had only used traditional methods for controlling the rising cost of living. Like other governments, she too imposed price controls without considering the real cost of production, for which the government is partly responsible.
“The premier has not yet shown her ability to solve the problems for a majority of the people who are consumers because cost of living has gradually increased,” said Paiboon.
However, she did show some leadership by setting up a working panel to prepare for the full liberalisation of regional markets under the Asean Economic Community in 2015, despite a delay.

VALLOP VITANAKORN, vice president of The Federation of Thai Industries, gave Yingluck 6 points out of 10 as she has to work under her brother’s influence. As a result, her leadership is not as bright as she could be. However, it does not mean that she does not have leadership qualities.
“Her image now is not bad as we had initially feared but that’s probably due to her background in property management,” said Vallop.
In economic management, she is trying to reduce the impact of external factors on domestic growth, and in that she is moving in the right direction.
Vallop suggested that she should increase confidence in the administration by making more decisions herself.
“Particularly, she should review all of the government’s populist policies, which would hamper the Kingdom’s economic growth rather than persevere with them only with a political motivation,” Vallop stressed.

SUTHIPHONG PHEUNPHIPHOP, president of Thai Travel Agents Association, said her government cannot run the country well, especially in dealing with some problems.
Preparing the tourism industry for the opening of the AEC is an example. The government has not been productive enough to offer any help. Obviously, the government has never talked to the private sector before negotiating with other countries. It had also exploited this sector to exchange some benefits with neighbouring nations. It is not fair and he felt “disappointed” about it.
“Today, the private sector is leading the tourism sector, not the government. Most of them are SMEs and may struggle to survive after the AEC,” he said, adding that private operators would move forward with their own plan instead of waiting for the government. As the leading tourism nation in the region, he urged the government to work more closely with operators before the AEC comes into effect in 2015.
Regarding inflation, unfortunately the government took office during a time of rising prices. Though the government may have tackled the problem, it had not dealt with the cause. “I think for solving inflation, the prime minister can get only 50-60 per cent marks,” he said, adding it was a complicated issue that needed more time to find an integrated solution.
In terms of investment, her government’s image was plagued by “corruption”. Budget injected into projects will not help boost the economy as planned. The rice mortgage scheme is an example. About 30-40 per cent of budget is expected to be pilfered before it reaches the farmers. Her policy also helps only some industries, especially automobiles with the first-car buyer programme.

TIPP DALAL, group chief executive officer of Tripple i Logistics Group, said her leadership as premier was not very visible yet. Though she has had experience in the property business before taking the PM’s post, her vision on the economy has not been seen. To be fair, this might be because she lacks a group of capable aides.
“In my view, I don’t think any of the economic policies are by her directly. If she had any role, it would be marginal,” he said.
Tipp also criticised her government for having too many populist policies, especially the rice pledging, which not only distorts the market, takes away the country’s competitiveness, but also leads to wasteful budget expenditure.
In addition, the Yingluck government has not launched any long-term strategic plan. “What we have seen are pieces of short-term policies such as first-car buyer scheme, rice pledging, investment projects in road, rail and airport. But, we don’t see any medium-term and long-term strategic plan which would give the country a direction in the next three to five years,” he said.
Tipp said there has not been any strategic plan for logistics development by the Yingluck government
“Two things that challenge Yingluck the most are being a woman, and a nominee of her brother [ousted PM Thaksin Shinawatra],” said Tipp.
“However, Thais did not expect much from her. But, in the second and third years of her premiership, she should show her capability to be a leader and she has a tendency towards that. We wish to see her own “policies” or “vision” on one big thing that could make the country better off,” he said.

SUBHAK SIWARAKSA, president of CIMB Thai Bank, said that Yingluck’s role has been to help soften the political tension, and the situation today can restore business confidence.
“Businessmen want only political stability, and the premier proves that she can ease political tension,” he said.
Yingluck’s role to prepare for the AEC was seen recently, he said, adding that she recently chaired the workshop with ministries and representatives from the private sector. “She has ordered participants to draw up a master plan in preparation for the AEC single market.”
However, he said the impact of the global economic recession should not be overlooked.
Controlling the prices of goods is not easy, but the government has attempted to solve it by launching the Took Jai shops, selling low-cost consumer products. Meanwhile, the Bt300 daily minimum wage and Bt15,000 salary for new graduates is a good policy that can boost domestic consumption.
 
ISSARA BOONYOUNG, president of the Business Housing Association, said that “the property sector has faced higher costs due to the daily minimum wage increasing from Bt215 per day to Bt300 per day”.
However, in the one year she has been in power “she has managed to ensure the country’s economic growth at nearly 5 per cent despite production capacity being hit by the floods in the last quarter of last year”. Meanwhile, global economies are slowing down, he said.

SUPHACHAI CHEARAVANONT, chief executive officer of True Corp, said Yingluck had shown good leadership as she is so calm and never talks back when criticised. She is also a hard-working person and Thai society admires hard-working people.

CHALONGPHOB SUSSANGKARN, former finance minister, said “the Yingluck government has weakened the market mechanism by its intervention in many farm product prices. Such action will erode the country’s competitiveness while other countries such as Myanmar will emerge”.
“Fifty years ago Myanmar and Thailand competed with each other to be world’s largest of rice exporter, but later Myanmar lost its market [due to its isolation policy]. Now it is open to the global community and will come back to compete with Thailand,” Chalongphob warned.
In order to help low-income groups, the government should use other measures rather than high price subsidy, he suggested. He agreed that there is an urgent need to address the widening income gap between the rich and the poor. However, Chalongphob said he did not believe that the government or anyone else could allocate economic resources more efficiently than the market mechanism does.

CHATCHAI TUANGRATTANAPAN, a director of the Thai Retailers Association (TRA), said that “the Yingluck government has made no strategic decision over the past 12 months. They have only maintained the status quo.” There is no negative and positive matter in the country as well as in its retail sector.
“The government plans to advance Bt2.2 trillion loans to invest in local infrastructure. But we have seen no concrete plan from the government about such infrastructure projects that will generate long-term economic benefits in the next five to 10 years,” said Chatchai.
He said the Yingluck government had no policy to fight corruption, which is one of the serious problems facing the country. The government should have a clear direction and position the nation correctly in moving towards the Asean Economic Community in 2015.

HASAN BASAR, managing director of Bangkok PR agency, said that “not just is the current premier considered weak but the country is frustrated with a lack of capable leader for quite long. What we need is a leader who can bang the table and get the job done.”
He said that the best way to handle inflation is not to try and stamp it out, but to make its effects on the daily cost of living easily manageable. And the way to do that is to increase the real prosperity of people.
Though the impact from prolonged financial crisis in the euro zone has not yet affected the country directly, Basar said that the government led by Yingluck Shinawatra should put a bit more focus on longer-term strategies that can enhance economic vitality and comprehensiveness.
“The private sector in the country is very good at looking after itself. But if the government provides the right environment for them to flourish – to work conveniently and efficiently – it would be the best and the most sustainable protection for each individual’s prosperity,” Basar added.
To create a sustainable economic environment, the government must ensure that it can provide modern and sufficient infrastructure such as roads, railways, a proper IT network and sufficient power and drainage system.
Meanwhile, the PM sector must have consistency and clarify policies in aspects that affect business such as a low tax environment.
“Of course, it’s too late as it’s less than 1,000 days to come. We should have had an aggressive tax reduction programme that attracted key corporations to set up base in the kingdom years ago,” Basar said.
He suggested that the government is still going to have to do it though it would probably have less impact. For instance, the government should provide long-term tax breaks to international organisations who want to set up business in Thailand and the tier two supporting such industry will then follow. Another easy measure is to start developing English language skills.