Thailand needs promotion as Asean hub, link to markets
Thailand should draw up a master plan to promote itself as the centre of Asean and a bridge for the region to the economic powers in Asia, particularly China, Japan and South Korea, a seminar heard yesterday.
At the "Thailand Business Insights Forum" held by Channel NewsAsia, business leaders deliberated Thailand’s role as a gateway for Asean. They all agreed that the Kingdom has strong potential to be a hub of the region, while calling for the country to improve its efficiency in many facets.
Chansak Fuangfu, senior executive vice president of Bangkok Bank, said Thailand should come up with a strategy to steer the Kingdom to the centre of Asean over a 20-year span.
"Thailand needs to change its model and needs a long-term plan of what industries should be promoted, and to develop skilled workers to serve each targeted business," he said.
The country has to invest more in education if it wants to emerge from the middle-income trap and position itself as the centre of Asean.
The country needs to admit that it is now having a problem with the quality of its workforce and the labour shortage. It needs to solve the problem for the long term, because if too many workers decide to move to other countries, Thailand will face a serious labour crunch.
Paul Gambles, co-founder of MBMG Group, a financial advisory service, said that although politics was counted as one of the negative factors, Thailand was more attractive than other countries in the region in such factors as geography and infrastructure development. The country should key in on those factors to attract more foreign direct investment. The businesses that should be promoted are value-added products and services.
Simon Tay, chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said Thailand should work with other Asean members to bring the region more closely together. A key to doing this is encouraging more integration in the private sector.
The Thai government should support more Thai firms stepping out, while smoothing the way for more foreign direct investment in this country. It should stress the Kingdom’s qualifications to be the centre of Asean, he said.
Jingjai Hanchanlash, vice chairman of the Board of Trade of Thailand, said this country was like a link connecting Asean and other economic giants such as China, Japan and South Korea. Thailand needs to make it a priority to improve connectivity between Asean member states and other countries.
