Standing committee wants urban master plans deferred
THE Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking will urge the Interior Ministry to postpone the new urban master plans because they will change the way business is done in many provinces and operators need time to adjust.
Isara Vongkusolkij, chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce and the Joint Standing Committee, said yesterday that the committee’s meeting spent a long time discussing the new city planning because it will have a big impact on manufacturing plants, especially those relying on transportation.
Samut Sakhon is among the provinces that will be hit hard because most companies there are seafood processors, which need to locate plants near their sources of supply.
"We will ask the Interior Ministry for three months to visit manufacturers nationwide on the matter in order to find solutions to the problems.
"Meanwhile, the manufacturers will have to pay attention to the environment and the community, which might be affected by their operations. After surveying, we will inform the government again," he said.
The meeting yesterday also agreed to propose the framework for ease of doing business to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha during the meeting between the premier and the private sector this Friday.
The ease of doing business should be a permanent agenda item.
The Joint Standing Committee believes that some procedures of non-economic ministries such as public health and natural resources and the environment have limited their doing business.
Boontuck Wungcharoen, chairman of the Thai Bankers’ Association, said the "Doing Business Report 2016" released by the World Bank last week showed that Thailand’s ranking in the ease of doing business slipped to 49th from 46th last year. "The drop in ranking reflects Thailand’s current competitiveness. The Joint Standing Com-mittee thinks that we should improve some steps to beat the benchmark of Singapore and Malaysia," he said.
Five areas that need quick improvement are business formation, building permits, tax payment, import/export permits, and travel/visas and work permits.
The framework will set the direction for Provincial Joint Public and Private Consultative Committees so that they understand it the same way as the central committee. Growth will still be fragile because exports continue to drop. However, manufacturing has seen higher orders, which came from the economic stimulus package of the government, so GDP this year might expand faster than expected, he added.
Isara said the Joint Standing Committee yesterday led 140 Thai businessmen to meet 13 Bangladeshi businessmen at a business-matching party. Bangladesh needs foreign direct investment to boost its economy. Tax incentive for 15 years, aimed at wooing foreign investors, is a key attraction, he said.
