ANY gains in Thailand’s competitiveness ranking next year will hinge on how well the government and the private sector execute their economic and business strategies, says IMD.

The government says it will evaluate the implementation of its strategies every three months.

There is a chance that Thailand’s ranking will edge up again next year, Arturo Bris, director of the IMD World Competitiveness Centre told The Nation yesterday on the sidelines of “Thailand Competiveness Conference 2017”, hosted by the Thailand Management Association.

The International Institute for Management Development’s (IMD)’s World Competitiveness Centre this year raised Thailand’s ranking from 28 to 27, among 63 economies assessed. “Thailand’s competitiveness ranking improved marginally this year,” Bris said.

He said that he was happy that Thailand has a clear economic agenda and strategies after listening to Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong, who made a keynote speech at the conference. The execution of those strategies will determine the pace of the country’s competitiveness ranking, and there are promising signs, he said. “Thai economic recovery is gaining momentum and government efficiency has improved,” Bris said.

However, Thailand’s score will also depend on how other countries make progress on improving their competitiveness. Thailand suffers from a lack of investment in science and technology infrastructure, compared with the massive investment made by mainland China and others, he said.

Thailand’s digital competitiveness ranking dropped to 41 this year from 39 last year. Thailand was rated poorly in e-governance, IT education and training, and digital and technological skills. IMD identified two key issues. Thailand lacks investment in information technology, such as broadband Internet and Big Data technology. And ordinary Thais have not adapted their mindset to embrace information technology, Bris noted.

Meanwhile, Apisak said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had demanded state agencies report on the progress of their work related to the ease of doing business in order to facilitate private investment and improve the country’s competitiveness ranking.

He said government plans to invest about Bt1.7 trillion in infrastructure projects , helping to raise the investment to GDP ratio from the current 7-8 per cent to 15 per cent – at Malaysia’s level.

Source: THE NATION