Thailand should maintain policy continuity and invest more in improving the primary and secondary education system to keep pace with its peers in the present dynamic and volatile decade, according to business leaders.
Moreover, the country should cultivate more scientists and engineers, develop a long-term vision with concrete execution and foster strong public-private partnerships.
The speakers offered their advice on Tuesday at a seminar titled "60 Years of Excellence: Creating Great Leaders, Designing the Future", hosted by the Thailand Management Association. The seminar ends on Thursday.
Arak Sutivong, deputy chief executive of SCB X Plc, said Thailand has national security and energy but has lost a decade to drive inclusive growth for equality and accessibility of opportunity and education.
Vietnam looks to South Korea as a role model for competitiveness, he noted.
"We can no longer lose another decade as we have a smaller market size in terms of population compared with Vietnam and Indonesia."
The country needs to further promote ease of doing business and encourage a greater number of local companies to compete overseas. The country should have a long-term vision with real execution and the private and public sectors should join forces to drive in the same direction, said Mr Arak.
Mr Arak said innovation and technology should not be regarded as costs but rather an investments to enhance the long-term competitiveness of the country and organisations and further advance the nation.
Danucha Pichayanan, secretary-general of the National Economic and Social Development Council, said the country had lost more than a decade compared to Vietnam and Malaysia as they moved quickly with consistent policies.
The nation's economic growth has also experienced low productivity and a lack of skilled workers.
Thailand has around 400,000 students per year pursuing bachelor's degrees, of which only 23% studied a science or engineering with the remainder pursuing degrees in management, law and the arts.
"We are considering importing talent to fulfil the shortage of skilled workers in the short term."
The country should focus on its strengths in the medical and wellness sectors. It should also boost productivity in the agricultural sector to create value-added products by using technology. Mr Danucha said education is key to producing competent human capital.
"Widening education access is crucial. There are a lot of smart students in rural areas who cannot access quality education and this is an urgent task -- the country should make equal education access happen," he added.
The private sector can play an important role in helping to increase the number of quality schools and upskill and reskill people to serve future trends.
Maneerut Anulomsombut, chief executive of Sea (Thailand), said the country still lacks a policy to protect against the influx of cross-border products and the lack of "fuel" to drive inclusive growth.
She added that the Indonesian government has taken action to protect local manufacturers.
David Li, chief executive of Huawei Technologies (Thailand) Co Ltd, said digitalisation and the trend towards intelligence are constant drivers of the economy.
"While Thailand leads Asean in 5G wireless network coverage, the journey towards world-class broadband connectivity is just beginning," he said.
Thailand boasts a 95% population coverage for 5G. Despite this achievement, Thailand's broadband connectivity lags developed member states of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, indicating ample room for improvement.
The country still has multiple digital transformation challenges. It has legacy IT systems as many industries face difficulties due to outdated IT investment, which hinders innovation. Companies are encouraged to migrate to cloud technologies to enhance flexibility and efficiency, he added.
Moreover, Thailand faces a critical shortage of advanced talent. Huawei is actively investing in talent development, aiming to train 20,000 cloud and AI developers and 10,000 information and communications technology professionals over the next two years.