CEOs urged to join in reform schemes
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha yesterday met with chief executives of 24 major companies to urge them to collaborate on an unprecedented scale with his regime's efforts to reform the country.
The general said the government wanted the business sector to play a role in assisting lower-income earners through providing knowledge and market access, and improving the educational system.
The cooperation would cover every area in the country and be part of a national plan for reforms in the short, medium and long terms. Isara Vongkusolkit, chairman of Board of Trade and Thai Chamber of Commerce, will be appointed chairman of a committee to steer the changes and oversee the activities that will be implemented.
He said the government wanted private enterprises to allocate some of their budgets for corporate social responsibility and research and development to a central pool that would be disbursed to help improve education, infrastructure, and R&D.
Isara said the private sector would work out details of the plan as soon as possible.
"For instance, retailers can help small and medium-sized enterprises to find more space [for their products] on their shelves. Private companies can also help farmers, fishermen, and cooperatives to develop their products as well as to help develop Otop [One Tambon, One Product] products."
Tevin Vongvanich, chief executive of PTT, said he agreed with the government’s idea to pool the R&D budgets of the public and private sectors to help increase national R&D expenditure.
"PTT will allocate some space at our service stations for community products," he said.
Tax incentives sought
Pruksa Real Estate president and CEO Thongma Vijitpongpun said after the meeting that the company had a proposal for providing lower-priced homes if the government were willing to provide land and offer tax incentives to property firms.
"If the government agrees with our proposal, we will see low-cost homes for lower-income people," he said.
Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak brought in the CEOs of 24 leading companies to meet Prayut in order to call for their support of the government's projects.
Companies that participated in the meeting were from sectors such as food and beverages, retail, telecommunications, property and construction, education services, banking and insurance, energy and aviation. The Federation of Thai Industries was also included.
At the meeting were CEOs from Central Group, The Mall Group, Thai Union Group, Bangkok Bank, True Corporation, SCG Group, Thai President Foods, Saha Group, Mitr Phol, Samart Group, Thai Vegetable Oil, WHA Corporation, Ch Karnchang, Advanced Info Service, Pruksa Real Estate, CP All, MK Restaurant, Se-Ed Education, Muang Thai Insurance, BTS Group Holdings, Bangkok Airways, PTT Group, and Thai Beverage Group.
