Thailand 72% ready for Asean integration
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Thailand has completed up to 72 per cent of its task related to the Asean Economic Community (AEC), Energy Minister Narongchai Akrasanee said at a seminar on Wednesday.
The government has incorporated the perspective of regional integration as part of the Asean Community in the 11th National Economic and Social Development Plan (2012-2016).
It has also amended many of its existing regulations in order to ensure the country can move toward AEC at the end of this year, he said.
According to Narongchai, regulations that have been amended cover a broad range of issues related to AEC, including the registration of migrant workers and regulations that ease the movement of the service sector.
Thailand prioritises economic integration with Asean, the Asia-Pacific region and the Greater Mekong Sub-region, namely China’s Yunnan province, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand.
Narongchai also cited the fact that Thailand is dependent on Myanmar for gas and on Laos for electricity, adding that this highlights interdependency in the region.
Suthad Setboonsarng, a board member of Ban Pu Energy, said textile, automotive and electronics industries were being traded freely in the region, adding that agriculture and movement of labour would be added soon.
Indonesia, meanwhile, has already completed 85 per cent of its work in relation to the AEC blueprint, Indonesian Ambassador Lutfi Rauf said.
Jakarta is focusing on building its maritime capacity to boost trade, he said, adding that abundant maritime resource exploration was one of Indonesia’s priorities. This also includes an improvement of infrastructure to facilitate logistics, he added.
Asean aims to build a people-centred community, and building a regional infrastructure will help pave the way toward better participation among the people of Asean, Apichai Sunchindah, an executive director of the Asean Foundation, said.
Asean will formally transform into a rule-based community by the end of this year, allowing a free flow to trade and people, he said.
Meanwhile, Narongchai said all Asean members were moving in the same direction.
“No matter the speed of the integration, what matters most is that we remain firm in our commitment,” he said.
