State agencies must modernise, says BOT governor
STATE AGENCIES must give importance to amending laws and regulations, including those to accommodate a sharing economy, to help businesses and people cash in on the “Thailand 4.0” era, Bank of Thailand Governor Veerathai Santipra-bhob said yesterday.
At a PostToday seminar, he said Thailand today was like middle-aged people who are facing health problems. Thailand is the body, the government is the brain and state agencies, which are laying down regulations and implementing government policies, are the bones.
The state agencies will be playing a critical role in driving Thailand toward 4.0.
There are at least three priorities for state agencies.
The first is to make laws and regulations more modern to comply with the new normal of the economy and society. Laws that will be meaningful to 4.0 include those that can accommodate the sharing economy and regulate cross-border services.
Second, state agencies should adjust their role from rival to supporter.
Agencies should not compete with the private sector in areas where private enterprise can do well.
The state sector should scale down its role vis-a-vis the income of the country.
Agencies should focus on being “supporters” of entrepreneurs, who are the muscles.
State agencies should allow the market mechanism to regulate resource utilisation.
Business in the past has carried the burden of the country, but in the 4.0 era, this muscle could be torn if the country cannot be reformed.
While state agencies have been urged to adjust their roles, business as well should focus on productivity enhancement, volatility management and development of human resources skilled in technology.
Thailand cannot go backward, as several countries have also focused on 4.0.
Even if the economic growth of Thailand can endure and resist volatility, the Kingdom has witnessed structural problems, such the quality of the labour force, outdated regulations and low adoption by business of the body of knowledge.
The research and development budgets of Thai businesses are lower than those in other countries, while small and medium-sized enterprises and the agricultural sector cannot utilise the benefits from R&D.
SMEs are still making products with high competition and low margins.
These are the critical problems that will handicap the ability of the Thai economy, Veerathai said.
