Thailand 'could lead world' in food and alternative fuel

Thailand has a bright future for developing its domestic market and preparing itself to be the world's leading food and alternative-fuel supplier once the economy recovers, Prof Stephane Geralli told the Thailand Competitiveness Conference 2009 yesterday.

Geralli, director of the World Competitiveness Centre at Switzerland's International Institute for Management Development (IMD), was taking part in a discussion called "Thailand's Vision: Ascending the Value Chain".

The two-day conference is being held at Bangkok's Four Seasons Hotel and co-hosted by the Board of Trade, the Thailand Management Association, the Thai Institute of Directors, the Stock Exchange of Thailand and the National Economic and Social Development Board.

The Nation is the media partner.

Geralli said the impact of urbanisation had shifted the future of the global economy towards greater reliance on the middle-income group.

"This group of people has forced the country to move from a workforce-intensive to a 'brain-intensive' society, and Asia has the fastest-growing middle class," he said.

He said one obstacle was volatility in commodity prices, which could scupper any chance for an economic recovery. However, there will be opportunities for Thailand when other countries seek to secure their food and fuel supply.

"The price of food and fuel will go up, due mainly from demand in China and India. Hence, Thailand should take the opportunity to strengthen its competitiveness so that it can step forward and be one of the main global food and fuel suppliers," he said.

The World Competitiveness Yearbook 2009, compiled by the IMD, ranked Thailand 26th out of 57 countries this year, up from 27th out of 55 countries and territories last year.

While Thailand's ranking is higher than that of India, Indonesia, the Philippines and South Korea, it is below that of Singapore and Malaysia.

Of the 57 countries and territories ranked by the IMD, the US continues to be No 1, followed by Hong Kong, Singapore and Switzerland. The Scandinavian countries also dominate the rankings, with Denmark moving to fifth place and Sweden to sixth.

The IMD considers four factors in its rankings: economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure. But it says competitiveness is not only about growth or economic performance, but rather should take into consideration "soft factors" in competitiveness, such as the environment, quality of life, technology and education. This helps explain why some economies, such as the US, Japan, the UK, and Scandinavia, along with small, open economies like Hong Kong, Singapore and Switzerland, are able to maintain their rankings in the top league despite short-term disruptions.

The challenge for Thailand in boosting its competitiveness in the short term is to create political stability, which is also significant for improving the Kingdom's economic performance.

In the long run, the Kingdom should take serious action to develop human resources in terms of education and technological skills and pay more attention to improving the quality of healthcare services and boosting environmental awareness.

The conference, which ends today, is aimed at mobilising opinions from the public and the private sectors and using them to shape a development road map.

Today, there will be a panel discussion on Thailand's potential to become the world leader in food, alternative energy, logistics, tourism and creative industries.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said in yesterday's opening speech that the government had a strong determination to strengthen the country's fundamentals and competitiveness, which expects to result in improving Thailand's ranking in the future.

Consequently, the government's second stimulus package is focused on infrastructure development, water management and investment in the transport and agricultural sectors.

He said full support would be provided to foreign investments resulting in sustaining the country's long-term competitiveness.