The top down, authoritative “control culture” is being supplanted by agile cultures, which promote diversity, an open mindset and empowerment. These cultures allow organisations to quickly adapt to change and capture valuable opportunities.

“Over the past few years our senior executive team in Asia has transformed,” said Lisa Butler, Manulife Insurance’s chief talent and diversity officer based in Hong Kong.“We did this intentionally because we wanted to create a more diverse workforce open to change and capable of working comfortably with digital technologies.”

Indeed, a glimpse at Manulife’s Hong Kong office today immediately shows the difference between the old and new ways of working. Men in dark grey suits, who once dominated management ranks making decisions and telling people what to do, have given way to a more diverse workforce. Open-plan office layouts have replaced closed-door offices, facilitating greater collaboration and information sharing. There is a more informal work atmosphere and fewer symbols of status and hierarchy.

“Digital gives people information and the freedom to work autonomously,” continued Butler. “They can take the initiative without waiting to be told what to do. This is especially appealing to younger executives, who feel they have more to offer and want to be more involved in decision-making.”

Several years ago, Manulife recognised that the fast-changing life insurance markets in Asia were punishing stagnant work cultures and plodding bureaucracies.

The emergence of digital technologies and diversity hastened the ability of companies to create greater agility, where local teams had the knowledge and capabilities to experiment with new ideas and challenge the status quo. It was all about discovering and implementing solutions here and now, rather than waiting to be told what to do from distant corporate headquarters.

What’s more, Manulife is not the only organisation in Asia under pressure to evolve work cultures and deliver better results. Dozens of fast-moving consumer products companies face aggressive local competitors, who are offering consumers more of what they want for less.

“Brand loyalty is dying,” lamented the CEO of one global consumer products company operating here in Thailand. “We cannot live on past successes. Consumers know more and are willing to try new things. We need to come up with better ideas faster or risk being left behind.”

To do this, companies need to use digital technologies to enable agile work cultures that harness diversity and allow people to think and make faster decisions on their own. The goal is to generate more ingenious ideas locally and to give people the leeway to take risks. The alternative is to become stuck in the slow lane and to fall behind.

But to develop agile cultures will not be easy. Old habits die hard and shaping new attitudes takes time. Bold companies like Manulife have been in the vanguard for change. It’s not yet ideal, but it is a step in the right direction.

Contributed by LARRY CHAO, managing director of Chao Group Limited, an organisational change consultancy based in New York and Bangkok since 1995.

The bureau also said Thailand is ranked the top destination in Asean for hosting conferences, according to the ICCA. These results underscored Thailand as a leading destination for business events trusted by international associations while TCEB emphasised that the bureau will continue to prompt the Thai industries to host more international conventions.

Chiruit Isarangkun na Ayuthaya, president of the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB), said the conventions sector contributes more than 30 per cent of the revenue to Thailand’s MICE industry. This sector supports the country’s economic development by providing platforms for knowledge exchange to enhance professional capabilities, products and services development, as well as innovations which can benefit the country at the macro level.

“Thailand’s convention sector has been rising continuously. In the first quarter of the fiscal year 2019 (October to December 2018), there were 70,000 business travellers in the conventions sector, generating Bt5.5 billion in revenue to the country. Meanwhile, conferences held in Thailand trend to cover broader fields following global trends such as technologies and startups.

Chiruit said: “Currently, the average expenditure in the convention sector stood at Bt80,000 per traveller per trip. This achievement reflects TCEB’s continuous works, especially in terms of the bureau’s efforts to bid for the right to host annual conferences of professional associations at the global and regional levels.

“With the fact that each bidding takes around three to seven years in preparation, TCEB has outlined proactive strategies to enhance partnership with membership organisations such as professional associations, non-profit organisations, educational institutions and entrepreneurs.

@The focus is on key industries which comply with the Thai government’s national policy. TCEB aims to encourage these professional associations to bid for their annual conventions to take place in Thailand,” Chiruit said.

Meanwhile, according to an international ranking conducted by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), in 2017, Thailand is ranked first in Asean and 25th place in the world when considering numbers of international conventions hosted in the country, followed by Singapore with 160 conventions and Malaysia with 112.

This month, there are eight international conferences taking place in Thailand, including conferences in medical, energy and electricity, financial, as well as creative and advertising industries.

Highlights of the international conferences are the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology Congress from March 6-9 at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre. Co-hosted by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists of Thailand, it is expected that this year the event will attract more than 5,000 delegates and generate at least Bt440 million revenue.

From March 19-23 at Bitec, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers will host an exhibition on engineering and technological fields in power generation, transmission and distribution and renewable energy. Held in the US for the past 40 years, Thailand is the first country in Asia to host the event. It is expected to attract more than 400 exhibitors and 3,000 international delegates with Bt240 million in revenue expected to be generated.

NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith said the watchdog would recall a total of 190MHz of the band, which is aimed at providing 5G wireless broadband service.

Of the total, 154MHz will be recalled from broadcaster MCOT while a combined 12MHz will be from the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters and the Royal Thai Army.

The NBTC has already taken back 24MHz of spectrum from the Public Relations Department.

The NBTC board yesterday decided that the validity of the 2600MHz spectrum for these agencies will end within 45 days of the watchdog sending letters to them to hand over the spectrum. The watchdog is expected to send the letters by Friday.

The NBTC has allowed them to hand the spectrum back to the Commission within 120 days of receiving the letter, so that they will have time to remove the related spectrum equipment.

Takorn added that these agencies have the right to decline to hand over the 2600MHz spectrum.

If things go as planned, the NBTC is expected to finish the price evaluation of the 2600MHz band within July and call bids for this band in August.

The NBTC board has also approved spending Bt7.5 million to hire three institutes to evaluate the spectrum price for the auction. They will also evaluate compensation the watchdog will pay to these state agencies after handing over their spectrum to NBTC.

Takorn said the NBTC has already proposed such deals to the Faculty of Economics of both Chiang Mai University and Chulalongkorn University and the Thailand Development Research Institute.

The NBTC board endorsed the draft regulations of the regulatory sandbox, aiming to facilitate 5G wireless technology trials by any interested parties.

Under the regulations, those who are allowed to conduct the trials in locations designated by the NBTC, will not be subject to some related normal regulations and requirements.

The board approved in principle a Bt68-million budget for Chulalongkorn University to set up a  5G demonstration centre in Chulalongkorn University and the rollout of the 5G network for testing in the campus and Siam Square area.

This funding follows NBTC’s recent signing of a memorandum of understanding with Chulalongkorn University to collaborate on a 5G wireless broadband technology-testing centre at the university.

Opening a seminar on “Thailand’s Investment Year – What’s New?”, held by the Board of Investment (BoI) with over 2,000 investors attending yesterday, Prayut said: “The government will continue with matters of investment and investment promotion for the rest of its term and the next government will certainly continue [the policy]. We hope that investors will take part in strengthening Thailand’s economy, which will benefit other countries in the region, with stability and sustainability.”

He said the country’s development was still reliant on investments from within the country and from other countries that have advanced technologies and innovation. The targeted industries have been chosen with a clear focus on promoting investments to upgrade industries with manufacturing bases in Thailand and also attracting investments in new industries.

“The government has also focused on laying the country’s foundations, while building up favourable factors for investment, improving potential industries, upgrading productivity and industrial plants’ efficiency, developing smart farmers, promoting alternative energy and renewable energy, and developing transportation infrastructure and special economic zones including the EEC,” the premier said.

In a special address to the same gathering on “The Year of Investment: Turning Challenges into Opportunities”, Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said although all countries in the world have been confronting challenges and high uncertainties due to the slowing global economy and shrinking global trade and exports, Thailand’s internal factors remained strong as a result of economic stimulus, economic reforms and the new wave of domestic investment.

In 2018, the Thai economy grew 4.1 per cent with headline inflation at 1 per cent. Thailand’s current account enjoyed a surplus of over 7 per cent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) while public debt was below 45 per cent of GDP.

He said winners of the bids for major infrastructure projects in the EEC are expected to be unveiled in April-May. The bid winner for the high-speed railway project that will connect the country’s three main airports – Don Mueang, Suvarnabhumi and U-tapao – is expected to be announced this month.

The third phase of the Map Ta Phut Port project is in the negotiation process with select private enterprises, while bids for the maintenance, repair and overhaul centre project and U-tapao airport project are expected to start this month with the winners announced in April.

Other infrastructure projects outside the EEC extend from four routes of heavy rail projects, six more routes of double-track railway projects, to light rail projects in Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen, Nakhon Ratchasima and Phuket provinces.

“It has never happened in the country’s history – such serious investment in both the nature and the size of investment as well as speed to drive [investment],” Somkid said.

“The election is a good thing as it will ensure certainty. I’m confident that after this election, we will have Prayut return to power and everyone will take part in building the country’s future,” he said.

BoI secretary-general Duangjai Asawachintachit said that the BoI’s two special measures in the investment year were boosting competitiveness and narrowing the gap, with the aim to increase investment in targeted industries and smart cities, and promote the grass-roots economy.

Under the grass-roots promotional measure, business operators must clearly follow the cooperative plan to support local organisations with a minimum investment of no less than Bt1 million in each project.

Also among measures to promote investment in Thailand are creating a knowledge base such as improvement of plant varieties or animal breeds, research and development of creative product design and development, electronic design, engineering design and software.

“Asean has done very little beyond lowering tariffs between countries,” argued Deunden Nikomborirak, research director in economic governance at the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI).

Deunden was speaking during a seminar discussion at the “Chevening Annual Talk 2019: Promoting a Strong Economic Partnership Towards a Resilient and Peaceful Asean Community,” held on February 28.

“To integrate into one single economic entity, Asean countries have to put the interest of the region before their own country,” she told the forum.

She expressed doubts about the realisation of such a vision, given the seeming unwillingness between Asean countries to liberalise their markets.

“We see that each Asean country is still protecting their own interests. For example, the Asean region is not working together to attract foreign investment but instead, competing amongst one another to offer benefits for foreign investors,” she said, citing each country’s board of investments competing to offer more generous tax exemptions to foreign investors.

Thailand’s Board of Investment (BoI) last November offered a package in which investors would get a tax exemption for up to eight years if they invested in the development of smart cities under the Thailand 4.0 initiative, such as spending on infrastructure, providing a “smart environment” or developing smart technology.

“At the end of the day, it is the foreign investors that gain the benefits from investing in the Asean region, and not the Asean countries themselves,” Deunden said.

Other aspects of Asean trade which remain highly restricted are the trade in services and the flow of human capital, said Deunden, adding that there is a seeming lack of genuineness between Asean countries to tackle this issue.

“Thailand has negotiated 10 service sector liberalisation ‘packages’ with the Asean countries, and one of the service liberalisation sectors that Thailand committed to was the transportation of goods and services by man or animal,” she said. “Thailand only liberalised trade by means that are no longer used in the modern day.”

But Thailand is not alone. Deunden said other Asean countries are also choosing not to take market liberalisation in the regions as seriously as they could.

When it comes to the movement of human capital, the Asean region is again far from being integrated, Deunden contended.

“Thailand has a lot of mutual recognition agreement (MRA) laws with Asean countries to allow skilled labour – such as architects, engineers or doctors – to work in the different Asean nations. However, this does not guarantee that individuals in these professions can move freely in the Asean region,” she said. This is because the MRA is subject to the laws and regulations of each Asean country, and Thailand has made it a requirement that these individuals write exams in the Thai language.

This is just one example of how human capital flow remain highly restricted throughout the region due to the reluctance of Asean countries to open up their labour markets, she said.

Furthermore, even in the trade of goods, the Asean region faces various challenges

In 2018, 22.69 per cent of Thailand’s total trade went to Asean, valued at some Bt3.67 trillion, according to figures from the Ministry of Commerce.

Despite being Thailand’s largest trading partner, the Asean region’s share of Thailand’s total trade remains small when compared to the share of trade between countries in other trading blocs such as the European Union.

“In reality, intra-Asean trade is much smaller than 22 per cent. This is because the figures include a lot of business-to-business trade. If we look only at the trade in consumer goods, the share of Asean trade to Thailand’s total trade would be much smaller,” argued Santitarn Sathirathai, group chief economist at Sea Limited (Singapore).

“So it seems like there is a lot of economic integration in the Asean region, but a lot of that is merely supply-chain trade, such as auto-parts and electronic parts being shipped across Asean borders between foreign firms that are established in the region,” he said. Santitarn said non-tariff barriers and customs regulations have kept intra-Asean trade in consumer goods small.

“Thailand should make the lowering of non-tariff barriers in the Asean region a key economic priority as this year’s Asean chair,” concurred Prinn Panitchpakdi, managing director of CLSA Securities (Thailand) Limited.

Added Deunden: “The TDRI’s research found that the reason why intra-Asean trade remains so low is because the Asean Free Trade Agreement (Afta), is the only agreement that requires foreign products to have a rule of origin before they are imported into a country. In other free-trade agreements, goods are first imported before having their content origins verified.”

She explained that this creates a major disincentive for exporters and causes delays in goods that are moving across Asean borders, thus hindering intra-Asean trade.