He instructed the Digital Government Development Agency on Wednesday (October 9) to prioritise its proposals and forward them next month to a committee tasked with electronically integrating all government bodies and services.

The agency must set out clear goals for every government entity to develop and adapt their services based on digital technology, Somkid said. It will then help them reorganise public policy using the massive state database in order to better serve the public.

Somkid also asked the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society to have IT-savvy personnel in all state agencies prepared to be “chief IT officers” overseeing the adoption of digital technology.

Kobsak Pootrakool, deputy secretary-general to the prime minister for political affairs, said the Digital Government Development Agency had played a key role in laying the foundation for the process, developing several online applications that benefit citizens.

It is also developing a convenient “OSS Foreigner” mobile application for foreigners staying longer than 90 days to report their whereabouts to the Immigration Bureau by supplying the required information and a “selfie” photo.

Doing so will save them trekking to the Immigration offices, and the innovation could encourage more foreigners to stay to Thailand, Kobsak said.

The scheme is designed to encourage people to spend more in provinces with second-tier tourist attractions.

Uttama plans to submit details of the second phase to the Cabinet later this month with an eye to extending the campaign into November and December.

Registrants in the first phase are eligible for the second. The limit was 10 million for the first phase launched last month.

Uttama added that the ministry would try and drive gross domestic product growth this year as close as possible to the 3 per cent target, but the results depended as much on exports as stimulus packages.

The government will launch two other campaigns to complement “Eat, Shop, Spend”.

In one, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) would help hotels, spas and entertainment venues sell 40,000 domestic tour packages priced at Bt100 each.

In the second, aimed at boosting travellers’ spending, the TAT and private-sector partners would offer 70 per cent discounts on weekdays on luxury products and services at participating hotels, shopping malls, spas, hospitals, restaurants, jewellery stores and amusement parks.

The TAT will announce the details on October 17.

Uttama meanwhile directed the Treasury Department to use modern technology to collect data on its land holdings across the country and determine how they are currently being used.

Thailand’s ranking among 141 economies has dropped to 40th place from 38 in 2018 in the just-released WEF Global Competitiveness Index.

Singapore tops the rankings, overtaking the United States, while Vietnam jumped 10 spots to 67th

place, according to a survey by the WEF, which seeks to promote public-private cooperation.

Kobsak Pootrakool, deputy secretary-general to the prime minister for political affairs, on Wednesday (October 9) acknowledged Thailand’s ranking slipping even as some scores rose. “It’s like a running competition – if our pace is slower, others will overtake us, so we have to run faster,” he said.

Assistant Professor Wilert Puriwat, dean of the Chulalongkorn Business School, which is allied with the WEF, said that, If Thailand wants to improve its ranking, labour skills must be improved.

“The survey found that skills among new university graduates have declined, especially in the area of critical thinking,” he said.

The way students are taught needs to change, he said, noting that Thailand’s score on critical thinking in the classroom was the world’s lowest at 37 out of 100 points. In assessing skills possessed by the future workforce, the survey names Finland first for critical thinking in teaching, with 89 points.

“We’ve failed the exam and it can’t be fixed by simply retaking the test – we need to restart learning,” Wilert said, alluding to Thai students routinely performing poorly on tests compared to foreign counterparts, a lag blamed on the traditional reliance here on rote learning through memorisation.

The WEF urged Thailand to encourage creative and critical individual thinking in the classroom instead.

Finland ranks second for skills of current workforce, scoring 75.8 points compared to Thailand’s 52.2. The WEF recommended better staff training and increased attention to digital skills.

Noting the only a few large Thai companies dominate the domestic market, muscling aside smaller contenders, Wilert said Switzerland provides a model for spreading dominance among many firms by helping smaller ones gain market share. Switzerland ranks first in the sharing of market dominance, he noted.

“This will take time since the few big firms have dominated the market for so long,” he said.

Although tap water has become widely available widely across the country, it is not as safe to drink as that found in developed countries, said Wilert.

The index covers four main categories.

First is proving an “enabling environment” and assesses institutions, infrastructure, ICT adoption and macroeconomic stability. Second is “human capital” and examines health and skills.

In the third, product markets, the labour market, the financial system and market size are compared. Fourth is the “innovation ecosystem”, which looks at business dynamism and capacity for innovation.

In all there are 103 separate factors examined for which up to 100 points can be awarded.

Thailand’s 68.1 GCI ranking places it in the top 40 among the 141 economies surveyed, but it it progressing more slowly than other countries, Wilert noted.

Its identified weaknesses are in institutions, innovation capability, product markets and skills. Its strengths are the financial system, public health and macro-economic stability.

The score for institutions dropped from 55.1 in 2018 to 54.8 this year, the ranking from 67 to 60. Corruption and an inefficient legal framework for challenging regulations were the key damaging factors, the WEF said.

The score for infrastructure fell from 69.7 to 67.8 and the ranking from 71st to 60th place due to continued reliance on an inefficient railway service.

“Improvement in the rankings will come if there is rapid progress in several areas, such as reducing corruption, improving infrastructure and workforce skills, and boosting the level of domestic market competition,” Wilert said.

Since early this year, the baht has surged 7.3 per cent – more than any other Asian currency.

Roong Sanuangruang, an analyst at Krungsri Bank, said the baht’s strengthening has reversed the trend of other currencies in the region. The reason behind this is the fact that Thailand has a high current-account surplus at 7 to 8 per cent of the GDP and that it has high international reserves worth US$220 billion (Bt6.67 trillion) in line with the central bank’s long position of $33.1 billion, or total international reserves of $253 billion as of September 27.

“Foreign investors see the baht as a safe haven even though Thailand’s economic growth is not high, and the baht may even move up to Bt30 per dollar in the short term,” she said.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Uttama Savanayana said that while exporters may be adversely affected by the strengthening of the baht, importers will gain from it.

“This is the best time for manufacturers to import machinery and invest in capital goods as prices are low,” he added.

Bank of Thailand’s monetary policy division had earlier expressed concerns about the fast-rising baht, saying the currency’s appreciation could potentially hurt exports and the economy as Thai products will become more expensive compared to those of competitors. Also, Thai exporters have long complained about the impact of the exchange rate appreciation and some exporters have even asked the central bank to make the baht stay at around Bt32 per dollar.

The central bank’s executives have also said that they will try to come up with new measures to encourage Thais to invest money overseas in a move to balance the inflow.

The SRT has to sign a contract with a consortium led by Charoen Pokphand (CP) led by October 25 to develop the high-speed railway linking three major international airports.

Finance Minister Uttama Savanayana reaffirmed the ministry’s full support for the project and noted that Sepo already has a list of prospective new SRT directors and a chairman. He declined to disclose their names.

Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob already postponed the deadline for the contract signing to October 25 from October 15 pending the board appointments.

The previous board resigned en masse on October 1.

Saksayam said that, without board approval, the SRT would be unable to submit the signed documents for Cabinet approval.

The CP-led consortium had the lowest bid for the project linking Don Mueang, Suvarnabhumi and U-tapao airports by rail.

Consortium partners are Bangkok Expressway and Metro Plc, China Railway Construction Corp, Ch Karnchang Plc and Italian-Thai Development Plc.

The World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index rankings for 2019 were announced on Wednesday (October 9) at the Chulalongkorn Business School.

The drop occurred despite the Thailand 4.0 programme, noted Ass’t Professor Wilert Puriwat, Dean of Chulalongkorn Business School.

“Other countries made faster progress in increasing their competitiveness,” he said.

Still, Thailand’s scores rose from 67.5 to 68.1, he added.

Singapore is ranked first place, followed by the US and Hong Kong.

The index is divided into four major categories and built on 12 pillars:

1. Enabling Environment, which covers institutions, infrastructure, ICT adoption and macroeconomic stability;

2. Human capital, in which health and skills are assessed;

3. Markets, which includes product markets, labour market, financial system and market size;

4. Innovation ecosystem, in which business dynamism and inoculation capacity are assessed.

The rankings are determined by the World Economic Forum in alliance with the Chulalongkorn Business School at Chulalongkorn University.

It scored 84.8 out of a possible 100, beating the United States to the top spot in the rankings of 141 economies.

The US, which topped the charts last year, scored 83.7.

“Singapore improves from an already high base,” the World Economic Forum said on Wednesday (Oct 9), adding that the country ranked first for infrastructure – one of the index’s 12 assessment pillars.

Singapore also was number one for two of the index’s other pillars – citizens’ healthy life expectancy years and labour markets.

Other high-scoring areas included the financial system, market efficiency and macroeconomic stability.

“Singapore ranks second for the quality of public institutions, behind Finland, but its performance is undermined by limited checks and balances,” the report said.

“Singapore notably ranks 124th on the Freedom of the Press Index – and lack of commitment to sustainability.”

The report added that Singapore will need to promote entrepreneurship and further improve its skills base to become a global innovation hub.

It also noted that the US performed better in domestic competition and trade openness last year.

“Despite an overall weaker performance this year, the US remains one of the most competitive economies in the world. It is still an innovation powerhouse, ranking second on the innovation capability pillar and first in terms of business dynamism… and home to one of the most dynamic financial systems in the world.”

Hong Kong rose four spots to third place.

The report said the territory ranks first on four pillars – macroeconomic stability, health, financial system and product market – the most of any economy.

“Hong Kong’s biggest weakness is undoubtedly its limited capability to innovate,” the report said, adding that the region also lags behind Singapore in worker protection.

The Netherlands and Switzerland round up the top five most competitive economies. The Netherlands jumped two spots to fourth place while Switzerland fell one to fifth.

The Global Competitiveness Report series was launched in 1979 to provide an annual assessment of the drivers of productivity and long-term economic growth.

https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/singapore-is-worlds-most-competitive-economy-world-economic-forum