Speaking at “New Dimensions in Asean”, a seminar organised by the Judicial Training Institute for high-ranking Thai officials, Dr Surin said Thailand must change itself to start focusing on innovation, using technology to improve its economic potential, such as packaging development or trading online.
It would take Thailand many years to change and to trade more in Asean, as the country has for a long time been dependent on low-wage labour and natural resources, like its neighbours.
Dr Surin also advised the government to increase its budget for supporting research, to tackle corruption, and to have the Board of Investment (BOI) and the Bank of Thailand (BoI) adjust to supporting Thai investors to invest more abroad.
The 10-member Asean has a total trade value of US$2.6 trillion (B78 trillion). However, only 25 per cent is traded internally, Dr Surin said.
Meanwhile, another international Thai, Supachai Panitchpakdi, the Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) speaking at the same seminar on “Looking at Thailand in the World Arena”, said that Asean, along with China, Brazil and India, will be the hope and the stimulus of the world economy.
However, he said, clear regulations are needed in Asean countries to deal with a higher capital flow coming into the region in order to prevent a bubble economy.
Mr Supachai said Thailand’s ability to compete ranked 39th last year out of 142 countries worldwide, 19 places behind Malaysia and even further behind Singapore, which is in the top 10, along with the United States, Finland, and Sweden.
Despite the fact that Thailand has continuously attracted foreign investment, he said, the nation has five problems that must be tackled to improve its competitiveness: political instability, corruption, unstable government policies, an inefficient bureaucracy, and the inefficient education of labour.