MICT organises "Government Economic Forum"

The Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (MICT), recently held a meeting on 'Economic Stimulus Through Laying the Foundations for Country's ICT Infrastructure' announcing the national ICT Master plan aiming to drive broadband and ICT for government stimulus. The meeting was joined by all concerned government agencies, including over 20 ministries and five governing bodies, to discuss and share their vision on how the investment in ICT will enhance and drive the Thai economy at present and in the long-term.

Minister of MICT Ranongruk Suwanchwee said, "ICT is an essential foundation to drive the country's advancement and achieve sustainable growth, investment in IT infrastructure therefore is vital in accelerating Thailand's economic recovery. The investment in ICT also serves to enhance international competitiveness, as well as improving quality of live for Thai people as we progress to a knowledge-based society and an economy based on sustainable innovation and a 'Smart Thailand.' 

"To make this vision a reality, the priority is to develop high quality human resources and in sufficient number, whilst concurrently developing high-speed broadband networking to broaden people's access to information. With this is mind the ICT plan has been formulated to achieve our aims by 2010 of seeing 50 per cent of the population having Internet access or eight million ports being registered as high-speed Internet subscribers. This in turn will increase the number of computers to four millions by the same year. This will help to lift Thailand's Networked Readiness Rankings to at least 15th by 2013, and increase the contribution of the ICT industry to the country's GDP to at least 13 per cent by the same year."

Angsumal Sunalai, Deputy Permanent Secretary of MICT, said "The ICT master plan values the development and the deployment of IT to broaden people's access to a body of knowledge, which will further fuel the country's development in socio-economic areas. The use of high-speed Internet will eventually lead to the investment from private sectors locally and internationally.

"In this connection, the ICT minister has appointed a supervisiory committee on broadband high-speed Internet to negotiate with telecom operators from both government and private sectors on the allocation, installation and leasing of broadband network covering major cities and provinces across the country. Additionally, the ministry will go ahead with a series of campaigns to boost the deployment of ICT, including a training project on ICT for authorities and the public. The ICT ministry will also propose a two-billion baht budget for government approval, exclusive of the installation of networking system by 2010, aimed to support public accessibility to broadband network and computer devices as outlined."

Apart from the panel discussion joined by representatives from 20 ministries and five governing bodies, MICT has also invited Brian Mefford, Chairman and CEO of Connected Nations, a non-profit organization widely known for its ability to accelerate technology availability, literacy and use among previously overlooked populations to share a real case study on "Increasing Economic Prosperity through Broadband." Additionally, Intel Thailand's Country Manager Accharas Ouysinprasert was requested to demonstrate how ICT infrastructure stimulates economies towards government, business and people.

Participating government agencies at this meeting include Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, Education, Interior, Health, Science and Technology, Justice,  Energy, Natural Resources and Environment, Tourism and Sports, Finance, Foreign Affairs, Social Development and Human Security, Agriculture and Cooperatives, Transport, Commerce, Labour, Culture, Industry, Defence, The Prime Minister's Office, Office of the National Economic and social Development Board, CAT, TOT, NTC and Bureau of  Budget.