Next govt urged to focus on SMEs, reskilling

Meanwhile, the Thai National Shippers’ Council (TNSC) has forecast exports to grow by 5 per cent in 2019. 
This is despite exports in November 2018 contracting 0.95 per cent year on year, with total value at US$21.23 billion. 
When converted to Thai baht, exports in November were valued at Bt688.192 billion, contracting by up to 2.4 per cent year on year, according to TNSC chairwoman Ghanyapad Tantipipatpong.
EIC’s first executive vice president and head Yunyong predicted that the GDP in 2019 would grow at a slower rate of 3.8 per cent compared to the 4.2 per cent forecast for 2018, citing weakening exports, falling tourism numbers and rising interest rates as the key causes. 
“First, the government should support the development of SMEs, especially their digital transformation, as well as reskilling of the workforce,” he said. 
Speaking of public calls for higher income, Yunyong said that the best way to increase income would be to increase value-addition by both SMEs and the workforce. 
“This will take some time. However, I believe it is the most effective way to increase the income of Thai employees and develop the capabilities of Thai businesses in the long-term,” he stated. 
Yunyong called for a holistic and detailed action plan by the new government to support SMEs and develop the skills of the Thai workforce. The action plan should be seriously implemented with its effectiveness properly assessed, he said. 
“Furthermore, the new government should also be continuing the current public investment plans, especially in infrastructure, such as in mega-transportation projects or in the Eastern Economic Corridor [EEC],” he added. 
“Investors are definitely waiting to see what direction the new government will take on public investment,” Yunyong claimed.
“This is because investment will be the key driver of economic growth this year. We have predicted that public investment will grow by up to 7.2 per cent, and will be directed to the EEC and other mega-projects initiated by the government,” he said.
Yunyong said he did not think that the upcoming election would have any disruptive impact on the overall public investment figures.
Meanwhile, the EIC estimates that private investment will grow by up to 4.1 per cent this year, compared to the forecast for 2018 of 3.6 per cent growth. 
The key outperforming sectors expected to see high growth in investments are e-commerce, logistics, tourism, hospitality services and digitisation, he explained. 
However, regarding the postponement of the upcoming polls, Yunyong insisted that there should be maximum transparency in the election process to maintain investor confidence. 
Yunyong also reported that the EIC has adjusted its GDP growth figure for 2019 down from 4 per cent to 3.8 per cent. 
This is a result of weakening Thai exports, rising interest rates and falling Chinese tourist figures. 
“Exports have been weakening due to the US-China trade war and slowing economic growth of developed markets, leading to lower levels of consumption,” he explained. 
“Therefore, exports are expected to grow at a slower rate of 3.4 per cent compared to the 7 per cent growth forecast for 2018.” 
When asked whether the recent appreciation of the Thai baht would have any negative impacts on exports, Yunyong said that if there were any, the impact would be marginal and secondary to the key cause, which is the US-China trade war.
The Thai baht stood at Bt32.09 per dollar as of yesterday.