Surin stresses competitiveness as AEC nears
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The former secretary-general of Asean, Surin Pitsuwan, has urged the government to take advantage of the current political stability to support policies and projects that boost the competitiveness of the country and private enterprises, as this would enab
At the “Insight Asean Summit 2014” in Bangkok yesterday, Surin said during a speech on “AEC Road Map, Opportunities and Challenges” that despite the stated short life span of the current administration, there were many policies that could enhance the country’s competitiveness in light of the Asean Economic Community’s implementation.
The main focus should be on infrastructure development, and the multi-year project to invest Bt2.5 trillion on the transport and logistics system is important to support “the national architecture”, he said.
Laws and regulations should also be reformed to facilitate infrastructure development, which would ensure connectivity between Thailand and other Asean countries, he added.
He said that as the centre of Asean, the development of Thailand’s physical infrastructure – roads, railways, and air and water transport – should be urgently pursued to link the region together.
Surin expressed concern about the competitiveness of Thai small and medium-sized enterprises after Asean integration, as only a very small number of them have until now dared to do business across borders, or more widely in Asean.
He urged the government and private enterprises to support technology, research and development, and innovation, as this was crucial to lifting Thailand out of the middle-income trap.
He suggested that enterprises should not simply wait for the government’s support, but should start to penetrate the Asean market by themselves before full implementation of the AEC next year.
Speaking at the same event, Commerce Minister General Chatchai Sarikalya said Asean integration would present both challenges and opportunities for Thai enterprises.
“The AEC will be an important milestone in the evolution of Asean. There will be challenges ahead, but there will be also the opportunity to access more than 700 million people as a single market,” he said.
Asean has been Thailand’s largest market for trading and exports for a decade, and will continue to be, he added.
The Kingdom’s shipments to Asean accounted for 25.9 per cent of overall export value last year. Trade between Thailand and Asean was valued at US$101 billion (Bt3.25 trillion), while Thai exports to the region during the first seven months of this year reached $57 billion.
