Thai PM Anutin Rallies Private Sector with Focus on Small Businesses to Fight Economic Slump
The Prime Minister is set to meet small business leaders as a streamlined joint public-private taskforce is formed to tackle structural economic woes
- Thai Prime Minister Anutin is holding targeted meetings with small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) leaders to hear their concerns and proposals for economic recovery.
- A new, streamlined joint public-private taskforce, the Joint Public and Private Sector Committee (JPPCC), is being formed to facilitate collaboration between the government and businesses.
- Chaired by the Prime Minister, the new taskforce is designed to be lean and agile, with the specific goal of swiftly translating private sector proposals into actionable government policy.
The Prime Minister is set to meet small business leaders as a streamlined joint public-private taskforce is formed to tackle structural economic woes.
The move follows a major convention at Government House on 15 May, where the administration listened to proposals from ten distinct business groups.
Government sources revealed on Friday that Anutin, who also serves as the Minister of Interior, wants to maintain this momentum by holding targeted dialogues with individual industries.
Government officials will next invite representatives from the SME sector to voice their concerns, pitch recovery proposals, and outline the specific financial and regulatory support they require from the state to navigate the current economic crisis.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Chancellor Ekniti Nitithanprapas has submitted a proposal for a restructured Joint Public and Private Sector Committee (JPPCC) to the prime minister.
Designed to serve as the primary engine for state-business economic collaboration, the newly envisioned JPPCC will discard the cumbersome, bureaucratic weight of traditional national committees.
Instead, the body will adopt a lean, agile structure, comprising only the essential state agencies needed to swiftly translate private sector proposals into policy.
Chaired by the Prime Minister, the committee will include relevant cabinet ministers, heads of civil service, and key figures from the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking (JSCCIB) — representing the Board of Trade of Thailand, the Federation of Thai Industries, and the Thai Bankers' Association.
Anutin is expected to sign the establishment order imminently, ahead of scheduling an inaugural meeting.
The new taskforce is set to model its operations on the "Reinvent Thailand" initiative, a collaborative framework uniting the public, financial, and private sectors.
Originally designed to tackle deep-seated, long-term issues such as sluggish growth, dwindling global competitiveness, and wealth inequality, the framework will now be adapted to ensure that business proposals are converted into tangible, sustainable economic reforms.
