Adul Chotinisakorn, director-general of the Department of Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Commerce , said the department had cleared all of the remaining stock under the present administration from May 2014 to December last year.

As a result, the government no longer bears the storage cost of more than Bt1 billion per month. Furthermore, the sales will normalise rice production, trade and prices according to market mechanism, while Thailand will gain the confidence of local and foreign consumers, he said.

The practice of using the government’s rice stockpile to pressure rice prices in new production seasons will end and farmers will now earn what they should, he said.

With the total sales of government stock, Thailand exported 11.13 million tonnes of rice as targeted in 2018, down 3.36 per cent from the previous year, while rice export value rose 4.5 per cent to US$5.62 billion or about Bt180.41 billion for the year.

“Although rice export declined in quantity, prices have increased in both US dollar and baht with no pressure from rice stockpile,” Adul said.

Buyers were not able to assert pressure on rice prices and the Thai market has returned to normal, he said, adding that the department was not involved in the legal lawsuit related to the rice pledging project.

The country is expected to see a slight decline in rice exports next year, but the amount is projected to be no less than 10 million tonnes.

Rice prices are forecast to improve and the department will promote the exports of premium rice such as Hom Mali rice, Thai colour rice, organic rice as well as innovative rice products, Adul said. Thailand is the champion in the exports of premium grade rice.

The department will expand sales in major markets including Hong Kong, Singapore, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, as well as the Middle East, the Europe, the United States and Canada. In regard to the government-to-government (G2G) rice sale with China , the department will deliver all 100,000 tonnes of rice under the deal this month.

Meanwhile, the Thai National Shippers’ Council (TNSC) has forecast exports to grow by 5 per cent in 2019.

This is despite exports in November 2018 contracting 0.95 per cent year on year, with total value at US$21.23 billion.

When converted to Thai baht, exports in November were valued at Bt688.192 billion, contracting by up to 2.4 per cent year on year, according to TNSC chairwoman Ghanyapad Tantipipatpong.

EIC’s first executive vice president and head Yunyong predicted that the GDP in 2019 would grow at a slower rate of 3.8 per cent compared to the 4.2 per cent forecast for 2018, citing weakening exports, falling tourism numbers and rising interest rates as the key causes.

“First, the government should support the development of SMEs, especially their digital transformation, as well as reskilling of the workforce,” he said.

Speaking of public calls for higher income, Yunyong said that the best way to increase income would be to increase value-addition by both SMEs and the workforce.

“This will take some time. However, I believe it is the most effective way to increase the income of Thai employees and develop the capabilities of Thai businesses in the long-term,” he stated.

Yunyong called for a holistic and detailed action plan by the new government to support SMEs and develop the skills of the Thai workforce. The action plan should be seriously implemented with its effectiveness properly assessed, he said.

“Furthermore, the new government should also be continuing the current public investment plans, especially in infrastructure, such as in mega-transportation projects or in the Eastern Economic Corridor [EEC],” he added.

“Investors are definitely waiting to see what direction the new government will take on public investment,” Yunyong claimed.

“This is because investment will be the key driver of economic growth this year. We have predicted that public investment will grow by up to 7.2 per cent, and will be directed to the EEC and other mega-projects initiated by the government,” he said.

Yunyong said he did not think that the upcoming election would have any disruptive impact on the overall public investment figures.

Meanwhile, the EIC estimates that private investment will grow by up to 4.1 per cent this year, compared to the forecast for 2018 of 3.6 per cent growth.

The key outperforming sectors expected to see high growth in investments are e-commerce, logistics, tourism, hospitality services and digitisation, he explained.

However, regarding the postponement of the upcoming polls, Yunyong insisted that there should be maximum transparency in the election process to maintain investor confidence.

Yunyong also reported that the EIC has adjusted its GDP growth figure for 2019 down from 4 per cent to 3.8 per cent.

This is a result of weakening Thai exports, rising interest rates and falling Chinese tourist figures.

“Exports have been weakening due to the US-China trade war and slowing economic growth of developed markets, leading to lower levels of consumption,” he explained.

“Therefore, exports are expected to grow at a slower rate of 3.4 per cent compared to the 7 per cent growth forecast for 2018.”

When asked whether the recent appreciation of the Thai baht would have any negative impacts on exports, Yunyong said that if there were any, the impact would be marginal and secondary to the key cause, which is the US-China trade war.

The Thai baht stood at Bt32.09 per dollar as of yesterday.

Over the years, “volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity” (VUCA) has forced multinationals to re-examine their business models. The challenge has been to create change and quickly adapt to a dynamic marketplace further disrupted by technology.

“The world is undergoing six major shifts,” writes Swami Raote, worldwide president of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care. “People are living longer and growing older, fatter, more crowded, more connected and more urban. As a result, society is unsettled, which is paving the way for disruption and reinvention.”

Managing this disruption has been difficult, given that the very nature of organisations has been to “organise work” into predictable activities governed by inflexible procedures, structures and bureaucracy. That has allowed organisations to systematically set budgets and allocate resources to achieve results.

So what do multinationals need to do in 2019 to manage this disruption and reinvent themselves to compete more effectively? Here are seven bold ideas:

1. Stimulate innovations. Organis-ations must find new sources of growth either by outsourcing the task of innovation to third parties, or by leveraging diversity. Contracting third-party consortiums such as the Food Nest that nurture startups and accelerate innovations is one alternative. Another is to create more opportunities to stimulate and reward diverse thinking and new ideas in change resistant cultures.

2. Redirect energy externally. Bureaucracies and functional silos are strangling companies. It’s like death by a thousand cuts. Employees are spending too much energy fighting each other and losing touch with their customers. Leaders must find ways of creating space for their local operations to focus outward on the market. Otherwise, local competitors will continue to out-manoeuvre them.

3. Empower to increase agility. Organisations will need to create work cultures based on trust with the right balance between empowerment and control. With enough direction and clear expectations, empowerment will give people and teams the freedom to make decisions and act quickly. Execution must be based on sound judgement and incomplete information, rather than only doing what you are told.

4.Make bigger bets on where to compete. No longer are multinationals able to cling to existing distribution channels while dipping their toes into new opportunities. They will have to make bigger, bolder bets based on forecasting trends that are reshaping how retailers compete and where consumers will buy. For example, Costco in the US sells popular brand detergents in bulk and at a discount. That might narrow down the channels in which FMCG companies should compete.

5. Optimise talent. Outstanding companies must discover how to leverage the full potential of their workforces and restructure quickly to address change.

Human resources departments must view their organisations more holistically, rather than by geography, functions or businesses. They must serve as the “stock market of people,” across the whole company, breaking down boundaries to put the right talent in the right jobs.

6. Develop people as a priority. VUCA has made it difficult to manage careers. But more demanding employees, including the so-called millennial generation, have forced organisations to identify top talent and shape disciplined development programmes. These programmes offer intensive skills development and opportunities for people to gain valuable experience. In 2019 and beyond, investing in individual growth is a sound retention strategy.

7. Clarify digital strategy. Despite all the hoopla surrounding the success of digital players such as Amazon, Alibaba and Facebook, most established companies still only use digital to enhance operations, rather than change how they do business. That might not be enough. Companies need to be clear about the role of digital in their future business and how to change to reap the benefits.

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

China is set to overtake the United States to become the world’s largest economy by 2032, according to the World Economic League Table, published annually by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, or CEBR, in London.

The table projects the size of economies over the next 15 years.

It predicts that three of the top five global economies by 2033 will be Asian, with China in top position, India third and Japan fourth. The US will be second and Germany fifth.

Other Asian economies will rise during this period, with South Korea becoming the 10th-largest, with Indonesia (12th), Thailand (21st), the Philippines (22nd), Bangladesh (24th) and Malaysia (25th) all making the top 25.

“Despite global uncertainty and tightening in US monetary policy, which have pushed down some of the emerging market currencies, the 21st century is still likely to be the Asian century,” said Douglas McWilliams, CEBR deputy chairman and founder.

China is now the world’s second-largest economy, while its per-capita income is still only about one-fifth of the average in areas with high incomes.

With the US economy growing faster than expected, the stage at which China takes over top spot has been put back two years from 2030, which was forecast by the World Economic League Table in 2017.

The new analysis indicates that China’s Belt and Road Initiative could be an important growth driver. Infrastructure spending is set to increase from $11.5 billion (Bt368 billion ), or 13.5 per cent of global GDP last year, to $27.4 billion (Bt876 billion), or 15.5 per cent, by 2032.

“We think the initiative will be seen as one of the world’s great transformational projects,” McWilliams said.

Singaporean academic Kishore Mahbubani said it is clear that Asia is on the ascendancy, with China’s economy growing at an average of 9.5 per cent over the past three decades and India’s by 6.6 per cent.

“For the past three decades, several Asian countries have done exceptionally well. There is no doubt that this momentum will continue,” he said.

David Morris, chair of the United Nations Asia Pacific Business Forum, agrees that Asia is now vitally important to the global economy.

“We are in the midst of the biggest global economic shift in memory, with East Asia now driving growth in the world economy,” he said.

The report also suggests that the United Kingdom could be hit hard by Brexit this year, with the chance of it losing its fifth-place ranking to France.

But it concludes that even if the UK lost Scotland and Northern Ireland as a result of Brexit fallout, the new country, comprising just England and Wales, would overtake France by 2026. This is because it would have a more dynamic economy than that of France, which would still be handicapped by a bloated public sector and high taxes.

“There could be many benefits as well as costs from leaving the EU,” McWilliams said.

“The UK can move out of its comfort zone of trading with the EU and increase its trade with the world, including China.”

“YouTuber”, “Gamer” and “Game-caster” were seen as the “hottest jobs” in the 10th Children’s Dream Career Survey by Adecco Group Thailand.

The Top Idol for the year is owned by the group BNK48, who won kids’ hearts by their endless effort to achieve their dreams.

The survey, completed by 2,682 Thai children aged 7 to 14 years old, found that Thai children view a career as a doctor as allowing them to help people, perform good deeds and earn a good income.

“Teacher” was next highest dream career, as children respect the impact that profession can have on building the knowledge and morality that builds good citizenship.

Ranking third is “Athlete”, especially “football player”, a favourite choice among most boys with a passion for that sport. “Soldier” ranked in fourth place. And the rising dream career in the fifth spot was “E-sports Athlete and Gamecaster”.

Trending careers in 2019: ESports Athlete – Gamer – Game Caster

E-sports Athlete and Game Caster attracted the interest of many Thai children, who love playing games and reasoned that to do so professionally would be fun and also a source of income and fame.

This is consistent with another survey result – that 94 per cent of respondents enjoy watching YouTube and more than 28 per cent like to play games and spend time on a computer. Moreover, many of them also have e-sports athletes, gamers and game-casters as their idols. Another interesting result is that the professions associated with computers, such as YouTuber and Programmer, were also popular careers among children this year.

“BNK48” was crowned by respondents as the 2019 Top Idol. YouTubers also rose high to place among the Top 5 on that list.

Repeating the findings of previous years, the survey found that Thai children still see view their parents as idols. Among celebrities, however, the favourite for this year was “BNK48”, a Thai girl group. The girls are admired for their cute appearance, singing and dancing abilities as well as their efforts.

Many Thai kids see BNK48 as a good example of making a strong commitment to develop themselves and to overcome obstacles in order to achieve their dreams and goals. The top favourite member of the group is Cherprang Areekul, the group captain.

Famous YouTuber @kaykai.salaiders was their second-favourite idol. They love her bright and funny characteristics and her talent in producing amusing clip videos. She is also seen as a diligent and grateful young lady. The third-favourite idol was Pang @zbingz, a delightful and well-known game-caster. GOT7, a South Korean boy band, ranked fourth, while Thai renowned e-sports gamers @ksdkrit, or Kritsada Pimlue, ranked fifth from his superiority in games playing.

When given the opportunity to make one wish, most chose happiness in their families and to have a long life together. Other top wishes were to be wealthy, meet their favourite idols, and pass their exams – or even better that there would be no exam at all. Other popular responses included a wish that they could have more wishes, as well as peace and happiness for Thailand similar to in Elsa’s kingdom (from the 2013 animated feature film, Frozen, from Disney).

Kids want education reform

When asked what the government should do to improve our nation’s education outcomes, the survey revealed that Thai kids would like the government to focus on a child-centred approach and enhance their talent according to each student’s preferences and abilities, as well as concentrating on teacher development.

To increase educational opportunities for Thai children, the youngsters share ideas of providing more scholarships to the poor and enough funds for educational materials in rural school.

In addition, Thai children also suggest the government use technology in teaching and learning to improve learning efficiency and get more students engaged. They also requested a digital knowledge hub where knowledge would be available beyond just textbooks.

Furthermore, they would like the government to support computer-oriented knowledge and e-sports. They also spoke for major improvements to teaching English and other foreign languages including Chinese, Korean and Japanese. They would also like to see practice in skills for survival, including swimming, self-defence training and emergency first-aid. They see the survival training and foreign language mastery as essential to get Thai children well prepared before entering the world of work and living their future lives.

Digital skills key to future success

The Adecco Group’s Tidarat Kanchanawat, regional director, Adecco Thailand & Vietnam, sees a strong technology thread in the results. “This year’s survey indicated that Thai children nowadays are truly ‘digital natives’. They’ve grown up surrounded by digital technology, and they use them in their daily lives. This also has been reflected through the survey results that e-sports athlete and game-casters became top-five careers choices and there are famous e-sports athletes and game-casters who are Thai Children’s idols.”

The children’s career views are “thought-provoking,” said Tidarat. “Most of them feel that the happiest career is the career that allows them to do what they love and are capable of. And they use this as the motivation in choosing their dream job. This year, we’ve seen that Thai children know a wide variety of careers based on their interests. We’ve seen a number of new careers coming up in this survey, such as a Rapper, Paleontologist, YouTuber, Choreographer, Car Racer, Game-caster, Diver, Entrepreneur, etc.

“Furthermore, we notice that Thai children these days have become more attentive in improving their skills, especially in foreign languages and technology-related skills. We should help support developing these skills, as they essential skills that will enable them to cope with future changes and challenges,” Tidarat continued.

“Today, the world of work is changing rapidly. In the future, 60 per cent of the population will work in jobs that don’t exist today. It is, therefore, very important that parents, schools, and related-public sectors collaborate in developing children’s skills according to their preference and capabilities. It is also necessary to develop skills that are required for this digital world and to bring in technology to support their life-long learning. These would prepare our children as the supreme asset in developing our nation in this digital age.”