The government has reaffirmed its commitment to manufacturing restructuring, value-added industrial upgrades, innovation and infrastructure development as ways to ensure sustainable economic growth.
“Technology, modern management, more investment in research and development and infrastructure must be applied to support those developments,” Commerce Minister Chatchai Sarikulya told a seminar yesterday.
“The government also plans to cut logistics costs to 13% of GDP over the next couple of years from 15% now.”
He said the government was committed to restructuring the energy sector to reduce price distortions while offering supplementary measures to help people deal with the cost increase.
It also wants to revamp the education system to produce better-quality graduates, particularly in vocational education, to meet market demand.
“Thailand has spent more than 500 billion baht on education, but the system has not answered the country’s economic questions or met market requirements,” Gen Chatchai said.
Suphan Mongkholsuthee, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries, pointed to businesses’ culpability in fighting corruption.
Sanan Angubolkul, vice-chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said the country’s weak consumption stemmed not only from low crop prices but also the government’s crackdown against corruption and illegal businesses, causing offenders to pause their operations.
“In the past, money from these illegal practices partially helped to drive Thailand’s consumption sector,” he said. “This money cannot be kept for long and must be spent in haste or processed into other assets or property as quickly as possible.”