“Economically, the improvement will improve the image of Thai products in the world community and benefit Thailand’s vital seafood industry. The US markets will buy more Thai products,” said Tim Leelahaphan.

Thailand exports seafood worth around US$6 billion or approximately Bt200 billion a year. Of total, 30 per cent is destined to the US market, 30 per cent to Japan and 10 per cent to the euro zone.

In a research note, Tim expected the Thai government to continue to completely eliminate the human trafficking problem, to move to Tier 2 (without Watch List) and even Tier 1.

Thailand was downgraded to Tier 3 in June 2014.

Tim also mentioned that Thailand was also anxiously awaiting for the European Union’s decision on illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing. Observers see Thailand will not be hit with a red card. The worst case could be that the yellow card will be maintained, which means Thailand has more time to fix all pending problems.

Some 30 Thai business-people met with Lao counterparts at ITECC Mall in the capital on Tuesday ahead of the Thai Top Brands Exhibition from June 29-July 3.

The meeting aimed to create business opportunities between the two neighbouring countries by building networks, exchanging trade and seeking potential business partners.

The meeting heard from the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry that foreign companies had begun moving their production bases from Thailand to Laos as its labour costs were lower than Thailand.

Laos’ numerous advantages for international investors were als o outlined at the seminar.

Laos has 11 Special Economic Zone (SEZ) being developed with the four of Savan-Seno, Vientiane Industrial and Trade Area, Saysettha Development Zone, and Champassak (Pakxe-Japan SME) intended specifically as industrial estate developments.

These would form an important part of Laos’ industrial development strategy with links to neighbouring countries, particularly Thailand, to be prioritised.

This should help Thai investors in their decision making processes whether to invest in and trade with Laos.

According to a report by the Lao Ministry of Planning and Investment, Laos’ exports this year were expected to reach approximately US$2.1 billion. A large amount of those goods were destined to travel to Thailand or though Thai ports to consumers overseas.

Thailand and Laos had agreed to double their bilateral trade to US$8 billion by last year, up from a figure of US$4 billion in 2011. As of 2012 trade between the two countries was worth US$4.82 billion, up 23.82 percent from the previous year.

Thailand is Laos’ top trading partner and a lifeline for vital imports such as finished oil, vehicles, machinery and steel. Likewise Laos exports a large amount of scrap metal, processed wood, fruit and vegetables to Thailand.

Department of International Trade Promotion of the Thailand Ministry of Commerce reported from 2008 to 2013 there were 290 Thai companies registered in Vientiane, and 145 companies registered in the provinces of Laos.

In 2014, Laos’ Gross Domestic Product per capital amongst Asean member states was US$1,730, according to the Asean Secretariat website.

Speaking to 500 investors in Shanghai yesterday at an investment conference titled “Thailand: Moving Forward to Sustainable Growth”, organised by the Board of Investment (BOI) of Thailand and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Somkid acknowledged that Thailand had faced political problems over the past decade, but insisted that tensions would be reduced by mid-2017.

In preparation for the expected rebound in the Kingdom’s fortunes, the government is spending more than Bt100 billion on infrastructure development along with restructuring the economic system, he said.

It has also mapped out an economic master plan to meet the challenges presented by the implementation of the Asean Economic Community, and to ensure that Thailand benefits from the opportunities arising from the emerging economic growth in the CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam) markets, he added.

He told the conference that now was therefore a good time for Chinese investors to expand their investment and business into Southeast Asia, using Thailand as the main gateway into the region.

“I would like to invite Chinese investors to partner with Thailand during this period of great economic reform,” he said.

He assured investors at the conference that the government would continue to invest in mega-projects over the next five years covering physical infrastructure such as high-speed trains, deep-sea ports, marine transport and commercial airports.

Meanwhile, it will continue to invest in information technology and the digital sector in order to push Thailand as an IT hub, along with rebranding the Eastern Seaboard Special Economic Zone into the Eastern Economic Corridor.

Moreover, Thailand can become the tourism gateway and connectivity hub of Southeast Asia, he said.

“The government is transforming the economy to a higher level. During this period of change, we need more investment from outside – and China is one of the targets,” he told investors.

Somkid had brought more than 70 provincial governors to Shanghai 12 years ago to learn about economic development, but he said that during his visit this time, he aimed to attract specific investment, particularly in high-end products and the service sectors.

Hirunya Suchinai, secretary-general of the BOI, told the conference that the Thai economy would be driven forward by more robust human-resource development via collaborative research-matching between the public and private sectors, educating the private sector on the public-private partnership (PPP) model, and improving the Kingdom’s skilled-labour pool.

Thailand can also offer the most affordable Grade A office space in the Asia-Pacific region when compared with costs in major cities such as Manila, Hanoi, Jakarta, Seoul, Singapore, New Delhi, Shanghai and Hong Kong, she said.

The country also has Asean’s second-most-competitive rate of corporate income tax at 20 per cent, behind only Singapore, whose tax rate stands at 17 per cent.

Hirunya said the sectors offering the most promising potential for Chinese investors looking at Thailand were automotive and auto parts, electronics and appliances, metal parts and machinery, agriculture and food processing, medical, biotechnology, alternative energy, and IT and e-commerce.

“This idea of industrial tourism is popular in Japan. Many factories and production bases there are opening doors to tourism. Thailand has that potential too,” Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of TAT, said yesterday.

The agency plans to promote the East Coast of Thailand as a new destination for industrial tourism.

The region could attract locals and tourists who want to learn about and experience manufacturing and industry through site visits.

Industrial tourism was one of the areas the government is promoting this year.

The agency yesterday signed an agreement with the organiser of Miss Universe China to invite this year’s beauty contestants to go camping in Thailand.

The 16 finalists and more than 20 staff will be staying in Chiang Mai, Pattaya and Bangkok from October 28-November 3.

Scenes from the camping trip will be featured during the final round in November.

That will showcase Thailand’s attractions and activities to millions of Chinese.

“This will be the first time for Thailand to host China’s beauty camp,” he said

“Last year, 7.9 million Chinese visited Thailand and generated income of Bt500 billion. Arrivals are expected to reach 10 million this year.”

Thailand aims to be in the top three in tourism revenue contribution in Asia.

“For the China market, TAT hopes to increase average spending per head per day by 20 per cent to more than Bt5,000,” he said.

The company polled business and engineering/IT students in the world’s 12 largest economies (the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, the United States, Brazil, Italy, Russia, France, Japan, China, India and Australia) on which companies they favoured as prospective employers. More than 267,000 millennials responded to Universum’s Talent Survey.

To make it on to the firm’s list of the “World’s Most Attractive Employers”, a company must rank in the top 10 per cent in at least six regional markets. If an employer is not listed or is ranked outside the top 90 per cent in a market, it gets a default ranking that is equal to the position of the last company in the top 90 per cent for that market.

Results are weighted by gross domestic product, so a high ranking in the US has a greater influence than a high ranking in India, for example.

Business and engineering/IT students are in pursuit of a lifestyle with a good balance between work and personal time. A well-balanced lifestyle is the No 1 career ambition in both fields of study for all countries except India, where having an international career is considered more important, and Russia, where job security is key.

Overall, engineering/IT talent tends to have more in common with its peers in other markets than business students in their own countries.

Very little localisation of the employer value proposition is required for most English-speaking countries, including Australia, Canada, the UK and the US. Meanwhile the differentiation in the Asia-Pacific region demonstrates that there is no clear outline in connection to what is considered attractive. Japan is especially distinct from any other country Universum surveyed.

A definite “Western European pattern” does exist. This could be because of the close geographical proximity of the countries in the region, but it most likely has more to do with alternative career paths available for millennials in these markets. For example, students interested in manufacturing jobs have much better access to high-school-level technical schooling and union protections than in other markets covered.

On the engineering/IT side, Google retains its top position, followed by Microsoft, Apple, BMW Group and IBM, which took over General Electric’s spot at No 5. On the business rankings, Apple, which moved up five spots from seventh to second, place is challenging Google for the top position, followed by EY (Ernst & Young) and Goldman Sachs. PricewaterhouseCoopers fell three places to fifth place.

Banks, tech firms competing

Banks are struggling to compete with tech firms for business talent, and as a result certain banks have fallen in the rankings. However, because of the interest of engineering/IT talent in joining professional- and financial-services firms, some banks made strong advances in the engineering/IT rankings.

There have also been mixed fortunes for consumer-goods companies, with strong “lifestyle” brands doing better than others, such as Nike debuting on the ranking at 16, ahead of the Adidas group at 19.

There is a stable attractiveness for the automotive industry, with the exception of Volkswagen, for both business and engineering/IT talent.

There have been significant declines in attractiveness for hardware-focused information-technology firms and electronics manufacturers, and the energy industry is noticeably less attractive after the collapse in oil and gas prices. However, renewable-energy companies have seen a spike in popularity among both sets of talent.

Universum (www.universumglobal.com) is an insight-driven research and consulting firm specialising in employer branding.

“Thailand, as one of the world’s suppliers of IT products, should benefit from the agreement, which will be effective this Friday, as member countries will decrease tariffs and other fees for trading in these products, while helping to develop new technology and innovation among themselves,” Sirinart Chaimun, director-general of the department, said yesterday.

Trade in IT products among WTO members is worth about Bt2 trillion a year.

The WTO has finalised the expansion of the Information Technology Agreement, which should help Thailand become more competitive in the IT industry. It will create opportunities to sell to the US, the EU, Canada, Taiwan, New Zealand, Iceland, Norway and the other ITA member states that agreed to the deal.

The expansion will support the Thai government’s policy to move towards a “digital economy”, she said.

IT products in Thailand that will benefit from the tariff reduction among WTO members include printers and parts, printer ink, electronic circuits for automated teller machines, starters for electric motors, movie projectors, monitors, cameras and digital cameras, transformers and multifunction printers.

Thailand has been an ITA member since 1997.

Under the new ITA, Thailand hopes to be able to draw more investment to its IT industry, as the country will be able to import products to supply the industry from upstream to downstream.

Thailand should also be able to export more IT goods to other economies, especially the US and EU, with which the Kingdom does not yet have free-trade agreements.

The US imports IT monitors from Thailand, but it imposes a duty of 5 per cent, while the EU, a market for TV cameras and digital cameras, levies 14 per cent.

The ITA expansion agreement should also increase the confidence of foreign interests to invest in Thailand’s industrial super-clusters, Sirinart said.

So far, 53 economies are members of the ITA expansion agreement.

They are 28 countries in the EU, the US, Japan, Canada, Switzerland, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, Colombia, Israel, Turkey, mainland China, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.

According to the department, trade in products covered under the ITA expansion is valued at more than US$1.3 trillion (Bt46 trillion) a year.

ITA members have traded more than 90 per cent of the total value of IT products in the world market, while the value of Thailand’s global IT-products trading is about $60 billion.

Combined initial foreign direct investment in the local IT industry is $70 billion, or 32 per cent of total FDI. The IT industry has created about 65,000 jobs for Thais.