Digital economy will support current drivers, not replace them: Pridiyathorn

Meanwhile, the Transport Ministry said it was close to finalising the contract-signing process and hoped to commence the construction phase of planned transportation infrastructure projects for land, air and sea – worth Bt68 billion combined – by the first quarter of next year.

Delivering his keynote speech at yesterday’s “National Strategy on New Economic Base: Digital Economy vs Land Link Strategy” seminar, arranged by Krungthep Turakij newspaper, Pridiyathorn said moves towards a digital economy did not mean replacing other economic drivers, but instead aimed to support the development and competitiveness of such engines in order to ensure that they run even more smoothly than before.

“We cannot neglect other economic engines that have done so well in the past, and a digital economy is not intended to replace them since it is more of an additional growth engine, which means providing another means of support for the expansion of the economy,” he said.

Pridiyathorn said the digital economy would open up more channels for all industries to expand even faster, via the digitalisation process in the agricultural, industrial and service sectors.

The government wants to fully support these digital developments via the setting up of a “grand plan” to pave the way for all citizens to be able to use digital-based technology by providing them with the equipment and the knowledge on how use such technology, he added.

“Different agencies, both public and private, have their own digitalisation plans, which do not coincide with each other and are currently all over the place. Some are good plans, and some do not work at all, therefore we need to set up a national digital economy committee to compile all the policies and redistribute them back to all sectors as one national plan,” he explained.

The plans mentioned by the deputy PM include the establishment of a national broadband network to provide easier access for all, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises; a national trading platform on a website similar to the Alibaba model; and a platform allowing people to develop embedded software more freely.

He also mentioned a venture-capital fund for digital companies and the setting up of an animation platform. 

The latter would attract skilled Thai workers who have left the country, to return and develop their ideas here. This would enhance the advancement of the Kingdom’s animation industry, where Thai talents are among the most respected in the world, he said. Pridiyathorn told the seminar that his office was currently working on the draft for setting up a national digital economy committee.

The draft will soon be presented to the Cabinet, he said, along with the planned amendment of 13 laws, such as regulations regarding privacy, and the introduction of two new laws that are being pushed for completion this year to facilitate the initialisation of the grand digitalisation plan in January.

Meanwhile, Kobkul Mothana, director of technology information at the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning, told yesterday’s audience that the Transport Ministry aimed to tie up all the contracts under the first phase of the government’s transportation infrastructure project by December, enabling the construction process to commence in January.

She said the overall investment in basic infrastructure next year would be 5-10 per cent more than this year’s level, and the government planned to invest around Bt300 billion in the first quarter, which would support a 3.5-per-cent expansion of the economy in 2015.

Of the Bt68-billion transportation budget for next year, the ministry will invest about 30 per cent in road-expansion projects to mainly improve highways and increase connectivity with neighbouring countries.

Another 31 per cent will be concentrated on rail projects in Bangkok to reduce road traffic, and on projects nationwide including standard-gauge rail links, rail connections between provinces and double tracks, she said.