Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn said she would lead a Thai delegation for a mission to Beijing on Thursday and Friday to discuss with Chinese representatives the agricultural deals.

Apiradi said the main aim was to sell more rice to China following this month’s end of the current rice contract with China under a government-to-government deal.

The one million tonnes of rice negotiated under that contract commenced early last year.

Apiradi said she aimed to negotiate the sale of another one million tonnes of rice to China.

Transport Ministry representatives will be in China from Wednesday to Friday to discuss the high-speed rail project.

Chutima Bunyapraphasara, permanent-secretary to the Commerce Ministry, said the mission also aimed to negotiate the sale of other agricultural crops including rubber and tapioca.

To promote sales of rice, the ministry will send a delegation to South Africa and Mozambique in June.

It will also discuss the sale of other products while there.

Chutima said these two countries had a strong demand for rice as it was now a major staple and they should become gateways for Thailand to penetrate central African countries such as Angola with rice sales.

Mozambique used to import about 600,000 tonnes of rice from Thailand a year.

Chutima said Thailand was expected to export 9.5 million tonnes this year due to high demand in many markets because of drought.

The Thai Rice Exporters Association said Thailand exported 2.85 million tonnes in first quarter, a 34-per-cent increase on the same period last year, while the export value increased by 23 per cent year on year to Bt44 billion.

They are all expected to be included in the top 15 nations by 2020 and could represent a “New China” in terms of low-cost labour, agile manufacturing capabilities, favourable demographic profiles, and market and economic growth.

The prediction is based on an in-depth analysis of responses from more than 500 chief executive officers and senior leaders at manufacturing companies throughout the world to a survey by Deloitte’s global consumer and industrial products industry group and the US Council on Competitiveness.

As in the 2010 and 2013 “Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index” reports, the executives ranked 40 countries on their current and future manufacturing competitiveness and also rated the top drivers of global manufacturing competitiveness.

Although all but Vietnam showed a drop in overall competitiveness ranking from 2013-16, viewed as a group, the MITI-V nations can be seen as offering an attractive option for market and economic growth as well as growing the customer bases of manufacturers.

“The Southeast Asian countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam continue to garner the interest of global manufacturers looking for alternatives to China with the availability of skilled workforces and growing labour productivity, as well as a lower manufacturing labour cost in comparison to China,” Ng Jiak See, leader of industrial products and services for Deloitte Southeast Asia, said yesterday.

“Other advantages that these countries offer to global manufacturers include numerous tax incentives in the form of tax holidays ranging from three to 10 years, tax exemptions or reduced import duties and reduced duties on capital goods and raw materials used in export-oriented production,” she said.

From a global perspective, the United States is expected to become the most competitive manufacturing nation in five years, with the current leader, China, slipping into second position.

“‘Made in the USA’ is making a big comeback,” said Deborah Wince-Smith, president and CEO of the US Council on Competitiveness.

“Contrary to the view that manufacturing is falling behind the times, the study points to a manufacturing future characterised by advanced technologies and growth through innovation.

“Manufacturing is sustainable, smart, safe and surging – and America is expected to be among the leaders in this industry transformation.”

CEOs say advanced manufacturing technologies are a key to unlocking future competitiveness.

Predictive analytics, the network connectivity of common objects known as the “Internet of Things”, smart products and smart factories that are helping to define “Industry 4.0”, and advanced materials are viewed by executives as crucial to global manufacturing competitiveness.

“The US is currently among the top nations unlocking advanced manufacturing technologies including smart, connected products and factories, predictive analytics and advanced materials that are core to future competitiveness,” said Craig Giffi, vice chairman of Deloitte in the US and leader of its US automotive sector.

“The US excels at creating connections and synergy among people, technology, capital and organisations to form a cohesive ecosystem of innovation, generating tremendous value from investments in research and development.”

While emerging economies have an advantage over advanced economies on issues of labour and material costs, advanced economies lead their developing counterparts on labour productivity.

“Singapore, while considered a relatively high-cost manufacturing location in Southeast Asia, is still likely to remain among the most competitive in the region in the future,” Ng said.

“With its highly educated workforce, an investment-friendly business climate, generous R&D incentives, high-quality infrastructure and good governance, the trajectory of Singapore’s manufacturing sector will be one that is propelled by investments in talent and innovation.”

The targeted areas are Hua Hin and nearby Cha-am, Ayutthaya, and Chiang Saen.

For Hua Hin and Cha-am, it proposed late last month that the government help develop the two beach towns as sustainable attractions.

It will soon ask the authorities to promote Chiang Saen district in Chiang Rai province as a relaxed-travel destination for tourists, especially from Europe.

And Ayutthaya is set to become a new centre for community-based tourism, highlighting night-time attractions.

“This year, DASTA will move forward to help local authorities and government bodies develop new attractions. We aim to push communities to develop sustainable tourist attractions,” he said.

DASTA has already launched tourism development and management plans for six areas in Trat,Chiang Mai, Loei, Nan, Sukhothai and Kamphaeng Khet provinces. It recently began targeting two new areas in Suphan Buri and Chon Buri.

“Over the past decade since DASTA was established, we have been developing and managing only our designated areas, but this will be first year we assist other areas to develop attractions,” Weerasak said.

He said DASTA would continue organising training courses developed by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council to help local residents and communities understand about tourism development and how to manage attractions. The GSTC is a global tourism organisation that has set 41 tourism indicators for long-term development, such as green and low-carbon tourism.

Koh Mak, Thailand’s first low-carbon island destination, was introduced to Western markets in order to attract visitors concerned about the environment. The island received just under 1.5 million tourists last year but 90 per cent of them were Thais; the 10 per cent who came from overseas were largely from Europe.

DASTA has also promoted a gastronomic destination, Baan Rai Gong King Village in Chiang Mai, which is now becoming popular for community-based tourism.

It has turned into a health and wellness destination.

Yos Kimsawatde, head of the Thai Bankers’ Association’s Payment System Office, said members of the TBA had agreed on the new fee structure, under which charges for digital banking will be significantly lower than in the past. Fund transfers via mobile banking currently cost Bt10 per transaction, for example, but the charge will be lower under the new structure, he said.

The new transaction-fee structure will be proposed to the Bank of Thailand for consideration and the central bank will finalise the details of the fees themselves, he added.

Fees for digital banking should be low because such transactions do not cost the banks as much as those at branches or automated teller machines, where currently the fees are low.

Yos said the TBA was complying with the government’s national e-payment programme, the first stage of which is AnyID. Central registration for that scheme will open on July 15, and people in the programme will be able to use their mobile-phone numbers or national ID numbers for payments to merchants on October 31.

Commercial banks will be in charge of the central registration for AnyID, which people will be able to do via ATMs, Internet banking, mobile banking and bank branches.

The second phase of the e-payment programme is EDC, and the big banks will form a consortium to oversee investment in that technology.

There are about 300,000 EDC units in Thailand but they only work with chip-based debit and ATM cards. After the shift to microchips from magnetic stripes becomes fully effective from May 15 onwards, the number of EDC units should grow quickly to 2 million nationwide.

The bank consortium will increase the number of EDC units by 600,000-700,000 this year, so the total will touch 1 million by the end of the year, Yos said.

The consortium is expected to announce the collaboration on EDC expansion by the end of this month or in early June.

To encourage cashless payments, the number of ATMs should be reduced to 30,000 nationwide from 70,000 currently, he said.

“Card acceptance must be in place in every province. Moreover, the government should motivate the use of debit cards and AnyID by offering incentives to both SMEs [small and medium-sized enterprises] and individuals,” he said.

At a recent meeting with industrialists, he said the regional government had discussed with the Yangon Electricity Supply Board providing more electricity to industrial zones in an effort to support manufacturing.

“It may take time. So please give us some time,” he pleaded.

Myanmar’s installed electricity capacity at the end of 2015 was only 5,029 megawatts. Only about one-third of 10 million households have access to electricity. As large power-plant projects have been delayed, industrial zones are now resorting to their own generators.

Ohn Saing, vice chairman of the Hlaing Thar Yar Industrial Zone management committee, said manufacturing activities would spike if the electricity needs were fulfilled.

“In order for our industrial zone to operate fully, we need 270MW of electricity as a whole. But now we have only three [generators] that can produce 50MW. Capacity is much lower than demand. Many businesses are interested in opening new factories here. But we cannot accept any more, as we cannot provide them with electricity,” he said.

Ohn Saing said squatters were another big problem.

“According to our latest survey, there are more than 8,000 squatters’ tents in our 1,400-acre [566.5-hectare] compound. Squatters lead to more criminal cases in the zone. These days, we need to worry about not only pickpockets but also aggravated burglary. Squatters also lead to concerns over security and fire.”

Aye Thaung, chairman of the Shwe Lin Pan Industrial Zone management committee, said the authorities should try to re-educate squatters on the erroneous concept that living for 12 years as a squatter will lead to ownership of a land plot.

He also called for providing more power to the zone management committees. He is frustrated that even police cannot help evict these people.

Aye Ko, chairman of the management committee for Shwe Pyi Thar Industrial Zones 2, 3 and 4, acknowledged that the issue of squatters was really hard to tackle.

“Recently, on a Sunday night, 20 new squatters’ tents were built overnight. When we went there the next morning, they refused to move. I phoned the director-general of the Housing Department and other regional authorities but all my efforts were in vain. Finally, we had to hire some groups of men to force them out as soon as possible,” he said.

Phyo Min Thein said of squatters: “If they try to improve their life, then we are responsible for them. We do not want to be a ‘bulldozer government’.”

He said the city would take the matter into serious consideration and try to work out a proper response.

He noted that Yangon was home to a large number of squatters because it draws hundreds of thousands of migrant workers each year. Low-cost housing in the city cannot cope with the migration and some workers cannot afford the rents being charged. He said that some of these people were indeed workers at industrial zones.

“In this case, [eviction is] not a proper way to handle this because they are a useful workforce for the nation. It is also not good to move them to faraway places. If they are too far from the workplace, they will become squatters again,” he said.

He vowed to find some land near industrial zones for their relocation.

The industrialists also proposed better road infrastructure inside the zones, clean water, and proper water- and waste-treatment services, among others.

GSB president Chatchai Payuhanaveechai told the media recently that the state bank was putting more focus on online service and upgrading its essential infrastructure to respond to increasing demand from the markets. This is in line with an ongoing effort both from the government and private bankers to develop their IT system to accommodate Any ID money transfers.

Despite accounting for a smaller portion compared to other sources of revenue, debit/credit card and electronic service continues to grow. In the first three months, this service made about Bt1.129 billion while the largest amounts were from loans at Bt14.041 billion. In the first quarter, after transferring about Bt800 million of total revenue to the Specialised Financial Institution Development Fund, GSB posted a net profit of Bt1.656 billion.

Chatchai added that the GSB was seeing in an increase in debit and credit card use, ATM, mobile banking and Internet banking. As of last month, debit and ATM cardholders were approximately 5.33 million, increasing from 5.2 million last year. Credit-card holders were almost 11,000 after being launched on April 1.

Under MyMo by GSB-mobile banking, there were about 540,553 users now, up from 352,107 last year while Internet banking users were 136,869, increasing from 52,054 last year.

“We believe that by end of this year, MyMo users will reach more than 1 million and Internet banking users will be exceeded 300,000,” Chatchai stressed.

In line with this customer expansion, GSB, as a state bank, also wants to play a key part in supporting the establishment of a national electronic or e-payment money system with a registered identification (ID) or mobile phone number as a reference.

The GSB president said that the bank aims to complete the installation of 2 million electronic data capture (EDC) machines at all 1,100 branches nationwide by the end of this year, on top of about 400,000 now.

“We hope that those deployed EDC machines would be a key platform for online money transactions across the Kingdom and make a cashless society a reality soon as well as help increase the number of debit and credit card users in the near future,” he added.

According to the government’s subcommittee on national e-payment, more than 90 per cent of all transactions in the Kingdom were still conducted in cash. However, e-payments and e-commerce are benefiting from an expansion of the 4G wireless Internet broadband in the country.