Thai government gets tips to boost economic growth

The Thai government is mulling a white paper containing proposals on ways to revitalize the flagging economy in the hope of reaching 3% growth rate next year.

The paper was compiled by the Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC) and Thailand’s Board of Trade (TBT).

According to chairman of the TCC and TBT Sanan Angubolkul, the suggestions fall into three categories.

The first concerns the need for the government to raise confidence in its ability to manage the economy among consumers and investors, both domestically and internationally, through measures to bring down the cost of living and operating costs among businesses.

The government should control prices of basic consumer products and services which people need on a regular basis, such as by freezing electricity and diesel price hikes, he said.

Sanan said the government should also consider a proposal for a joint public-private committee on energy, as such a panel would have a better chance of regulating energy prices.

Private companies are also urging the government to distribute the budget equally to all parts of Thailand to stimulate economic activities outside the capital and major cities. Besides, a new co-payment scheme could increase the purchasing power of consumers in such areas, he added.

The second area of proposals concerns the need to improve competitiveness among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), particularly by reducing their debt burden. The government should also cushion the impact of debt on SMEs by suspending loan repayments and/or extending the debt repayment period for heavily indebted individuals and SMEs.

The third set of proposals concerns new strategies to achieve and sustain economic growth, including ways to attract more. In addition to keeping up the momentum for growth in key businesses areas of food, tourism, health and wellness, logistics and education-related businesses, the development of businesses operating in the AI-based, digital, electric vehicle and green energy industries also needs a real push from the government.