The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has agreed to set up three working groups — on transport, energy infrastructure and water management — as Japanese investors call for speeding up work in these areas.
Hisamichi Koga, president of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce (JCC) in Bangkok, said ACM Prajin Jantong agreed at last Friday's NCPO meeting to set up the three groups, with water management given the highest priority.
"As the previous master plan's 35-billion-baht water management plan did not cover the whole country, they will revise the plan to cover Thailand as a whole and implement it accordingly," Mr Koga said.
After a meeting with junta chief Prayuth Chan-ocha in May, the JCC asked for further headway on infrastructure issues, terming them crucial to Thai economic development.
"The JCC requested the development of hard infrastructure such as roads, rail, east-west and southern economic corridors with Myanmar, plus soft infrastructure such as customs and transport agreements to improve connectivity with neighbouring countries after the necessary reviews of planning and financing are done," Mr Koga said.
Plans call for building a port on the Andaman coast and increasing Thailand's cargo-handling capacity, he said, as well as expanding the capacity of Don Mueang, Suvarnabhumi, Phuket and Chiang Mai airports.
The chamber also asked the junta to promote outward-looking trade policies and to take the lead in the Asean Economic Community (AEC), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and Thailand's bilateral trade agreement with the EU.
The RCEP is a proposed free-trade agreement between Asean and the six states with which the bloc has existing FTAs: Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea and New Zealand.
"Developing human resources through education, training, innovation and research and development is also vital to make Thailand a more advanced hub of the region," Mr Koga said.
He said the NCPO has agreed to set up a committee on small and medium-sized enterprises.
According to Mr Koga, ACM Prajin conveyed his awareness that an effort is needed to develop the economy while maintaining peace and order.
The agenda will include restoring confidence and inviting more investment from abroad.
Transparency in government and maintaining the market economy are also crucial to boosting Thailand's competitiveness, Mr Koga quoted ACM Prajin as saying.