Thailand's ranking in the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Global Competitive Index (GCI) is at risk of slipping further next year if metrics of the fourth industrial revolution development are included in the measurement.
"Thailand needs to be anxious about factors that will affect our ranking in the future," said Pasu Decharin, dean of the Chulalongkorn Business School, an official partner of the WEF in Thailand.
Next year it will be renamed the Updated Global Competitiveness Index Framework and the three pillars of higher education and training, business sophistication and innovation for education and skills, and business dynamism and innovative capacity will be restructured to pave the way for inclusion of factors reflecting readiness for the fourth industrial revolution, he said.
The fourth industrial revolution is characterised by increasing digitalisation and innovation.
The WEF recently announced the GCI 2016-17 edition, with Thailand's ranking dipping two places to 34th out of 138 countries. The index is a reference for global investors.
Mr Pasu said it is likely the WEF will give a higher weight to the role of the private sector in improving the country's competitive edge by including indicators such as number of international brands.
He said the WEF set up preliminary rankings in which these new indicators have already been included, but they were not added to this year's GCI.
In the preliminary ranking of the educational and skills pillar, Thailand is 83rd for current workforce skills and 75th for future workforce, for a total of 84th. It ranks 93rd and 55th in business dynamism and innovation capacity, respectively.
Thailand is moving in the right direction by investing more in infrastructure as well as supporting competition and innovation in the market, but this will not pay off in the short run, said Somprawin Manprasert, chief economist in Bank of Ayudhya's research department.
"I don't think we'll see any gains in these subjects until the next five to 10 years," Mr Somprawin said.
He said Thailand's ranking could worsen in the future if the country fails to keep up with other countries in reforming its economic structure.
Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said Thailand's two-notch drop in the GCI was less than that of Asean peers such as Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and Laos. Thailand's score in the GCI's 2016-17 edition held steady from last year, he said.