Industry leaders will push for greater ease of doing business

The Federation of Thai Industries will advocate with the next government to adopt policies to increase ease of doing business in the Kingdom, ramp up investment, and raise national competitiveness, Federation leaders said last week.

“The Federation expects a stable situation post-election, with new members of parliament forming a coalition government very soon to mobilize the country,” said Supant Mongkolsuthree, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).

Thailand’s score in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Report has risen in 2019, and the country is ranked 27th in the world. Thai economic planners have said they want the Kingdom to crack the top 15 in the world in coming years. The World Bank credited Thailand with implementing the second-highest number of reforms of any country since the Bank began publishing the report in 2003.

On March 18, the FTI published its white paper dealing with development issues and sent copies to five major political parties. The document called for changes to rules related to ease of doing business and urged the establishment of funds, centers, and programs for farmers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The policy document emphasized four key areas: smart agriculture, quality of life improvement, networking and connecting, and service sharing.

As a country with a strong agricultural sector, Supant said Thailand should put emphasis on the food industry, but the nation needs to upgrade to smart agriculture by turning out high-value-added products. The FTI has proposed the Food Valley program as a national strategy.

“The program will adopt innovation and technology for plantation zones, packaging design and biochemical development,” he said.

The FTI also called for the government to implement measures to support e-commerce, logistics, new manufacturing of trains, railway equipment, electric cars, public vehicles, motorcycles, and cruise ships.