Euro panel supports business initiative

"The ease of doing is business is not a linear thing that you can just look at numbers and report it. It is not like an exchange rate where you can have a fixed |price.

"It is a complete spectrum across industries, across all sizes and there are so many variables," Uli Kaiser, president of TEBA, said last week.

"The World Bank has around 80 criteria in their report and if our members could pick a number, and put Thailand somewhere, they would have ranked it much higher, since the 49th ranking does not reflect the real situation here," he said in an exclusive interview with The Nation after the association’s meeting with Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith.

Thailand’s ranking in the World Bank’s "Doing Business" report for 2016 slipped from 46th place in 2015 to 49th among the 189 economies surveyed.

There are areas that can be improved and there are three "quick win activities" that the association and the government can do together, starting with logistics.

Some customs set-ups and procedures could be simplified. For example, at Suvarnabhumi Airport, imported goods have to be inspect twice – once for international standards and again for Thai standards.

"The double-checking means that it takes about two to five hours longer for each parcel to be cleared," he said.

For road safety, the association has recommend greater enforcement of the time that trucks can use the road and the loading allowance.

This would improve and prevent the deterioration of road surfaces, and again allow for a faster flow of goods.

Thai drivers should be given incentives to replace their old tyres with locally-produced |tyres.

Kaiser said the Transport Ministry is planning to build more rest areas for truck drivers to rest and sleep during their off hours. The sites have already been defined.

"Rubber farmers will benefit from the increase in demand, manufacturers will benefit from the increase in orders, drivers will benefit from the new and safer tyres and society will benefit from safer roads.

"The economy will benefit from the increase in domestic consumption. This is a win-win for all," he said.

The aerospace industry has "enormous growth potential in the next 15 to 20 years", so Thailand should get ready now, as large firms always look for localisation.

Arkhom has reconfirmed the ministry’s plan to transform U-Tapao airport into the country’s first aerospace cluster focusing on maintenance, repair and overhaul, Kaiser added.

In September, Arkhom met with Marc Roubaud, vice president for business development |at Air France-KLM, at the ministry.

One of the topics for discus-sion was the potential project to develop an aircraft maintenance site and platform for other aviation-related industries at U- Tapao.