With Asean's economy on the rise and regional economic unity looming,
there is an urgent need for the Thai private sector and civil service to
rethink their ideas and philosophies, one of the country's most prominent
leaders has warned.
Supachai Panitchpakdi,
secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and
former head of the World Trade Organisation, told a seminar the Asean Economic
Community (AEC) represented a major opportunity for the country to advance.
Mr Supachai pointed especially to
the gloomy economic outlook worldwide and the emergence of China, Brazil and
India.
Southeast Asian nations had to
trade more among themselves, he said.
Clear regulations were needed to
deal with higher capital flows coming into the region to prevent a bubble
economy, as well as to address disputes.
Mr Supachai was speaking at a
seminar titled "Looking at Thailand in the World Arena", organised by
the Judicial Training Institute on Friday.
Asean secretary-general Surin
Pitsuwan advised investment promotion agencies such as the Board of Investment
and the Thai private sector to rethink and re-engineer their practices to focus
more on investment in Asean markets instead of focusing on foreign direct
investment. The world economy would still be in the doldrums when the AEC is
formed in 2015, Mr Surin said.
"A mentality shift is
needed," he said.
More needs to be done to improve
human resources, invest in science and technological innovations, connect
research from universities with practical applications in the manufacturing
sector and overhaul rules and regulations, Mr Surin said during a talk on
"New Dimensions in Asean" at the same seminar.
Trade by the 10 Asean nations is
valued at US$2.6 trillion (79 trillion baht). However, only 25% of that was
internal.
Mr Surin said small and
medium-size enterprises, which account for 80% of employment, needed help to
play a greater role in intra-Asean trade.
Thailand has stayed too long in
the middle-income trap.
"To move up the ladder, [an
Asean] nation should pay workers at least $10,000 a year. Malaysia has nearly
got there with $9,000, but Thailand has not even reached halfway [less than
$5,000]," he said.
Thailand also needed to prepare
to shift from a labour-intensive to a knowledge-based economy.
"When Myanmar successfully
establishes a food processing industry, the seafood business in Maha Chai
[Samut Sakhon] will go bankrupt. The Asean landscape is becoming very
competitive. We need to change," Mr Surin said.
He also said that Thailand needed
to quell conflicts in border areas as they were affecting affecting
international investors' confidence in the region.
"The rule of law,
transparency, and good governance will also be crucial for both Thailand and
Asean nations," he said.
Thanis Kesawapitak,
vice-president of the Supreme Court, agreed that the formation of the AEC
necessitates an overhaul of the Thai judiciary.
For example, he said, laws pertaining
to narcotics and human trafficking related crimes need to be amended to
facilitate cooperation among Asean nations in prosecuting cases and
confiscating assets.
The courts need to address and
honour international conventions such as most-favoured nation status and the
General Agreement on Trade in Services, he said.
Supreme Administrative Court
president Hassawut Withitwiriyakul said his court has been able to expedite its
work in regard to specialised cases such as those involving environmental issues.
He said that the Thai judiciary
must also quickly address language deficiencies which might hinder its ability
to work with other countries.
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