Private sector urges govt to assist business

A tourism expert attending a conference held by the Economic Reporters Association yesterday said the travel industry, which has been struggling for about six months since the military coup, could rebound to nearly normal next year, even if the regime kept martial law in place. 

In the meantime, the export sector is predicted to grow by 4 per cent next year. Small and medium-sized enterprises are expected to play a bigger role in the economy if the sector can expand regionally when Asean nations form a single market at the end of 2015.

However, all these key sectors still need full support and assistance from the government, especially in terms of human-resource development, information technology, research and development, and financial aid when operators get in trouble from unpredicted issues or crises, the seminar heard. Furthermore, reining in corruption would help drive business growth in the long term. 

 

Bright future for SMEs

Supant Mongkolsuthree, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries, said the opening of the Asean Economic Community in 2015 would bring huge opportunities for Thai enterprises to expand, whether region-wide or in narrower markets such as CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam).

However, small operators need the government to help by organising business matching and leading them to explore new markets outside the Kingdom. 

SMEs need government support in at least three areas: locating markets for their products; cutting costs, which can be done through research and development and information technology; and financial support, especially when operators face crises due to unpredicted issues like political conflict.

Supan added that many projects had been pushed by the government, but few came from the private sector. 

 

Tourism human resources 

Ittirit Kinglake, president of the Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT), said the tourism sector was expected to improve next year even if the government retained martial law. 

He said that during a recent overseas visit, people in long-haul markets such as the United States, Scandinavia and Britain were not asking about murder case in Koh Tao and intended to visit the Kingdom. A lot of travellers from Asia including Asean have already returned to Thailand, especially from mainland China during the visa-fee exemption period from August to last month. 

The TCT urged the government to improve three tourism fundamentals. The first was to improve capacity at the major airports and accessibility at immigration units. The second was pushing cooperation between the government and private sectors, not only in development of tourist attractions but also in marketing strategies. And the last was enhancing human resources in terms of foreign-

language skills and service quality. 

“Thailand could become the best hub for tourism if we can develop our infrastructure and the quality of human resources,” Ittirit said.

He added corruption had been hurting the tourism sector for years and now was the time to clean it up. Social sanctions along with diligently applying penalties may force illegal operators out of business.

 

Opportunities for overseas expansion 

Sanan Angubolkul, vice chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said the government should push law enforcement to prevent corruption, as it had disturbed industry for years.

He added that the export sector would rebound this quarter and would continue to grow by 4 cent next year, judging from the economic recovery in the US.

“One of the ways to earn foreign income is investing overseas. Thai operators need to look at opportunities outside, and I suggest that China, Myanmar, Indonesia and Vietnam are emerging markets,” Sanan said.

He also advised the private and public sectors to develop international value chains to enhance production and sales networks.

Also important is investing in research and development to help develop a variety of products. This could make entire businesses more competitive. R&D will also help drive digital businesses where everyone needs efficiency in terms of speed and quality.