World Bank Outlines Priorities For Thailand To Restart Economic Engine

By Mohd Haikal Mohd Isa BANGKOK, March 14 (Bernama) -- A World Bank report has outlined four priorities for Thailand to restart its economic engine in a way that will benenfit the people and help protect the environment. The report, 'Getting Back on Track: Reviving Growth and Securing Prosperity for All,' is the first systematic country diagnostic for Thailand. In a statement Monday, World Bank Country Director for South-East Asia, Ulrich Zachau, said they were: Creating more and better jobs; Providing more support to the bottom 40 per cent; Making growth greener and more resilient; and, Strengthening the institutional capability of public sector to implement reform. "Thailand is a country of vast potential. "The report identifies policies that will create more opportunities for more Thais to earn, give children from poor families a chance to prosper and develop a smart social protection system to support vulnerable people," he said. The World Bank said Thailand has made tremendous progress but still an estimated seven million Thais were poor and additional 6.7 million were at risk of falling into poverty in 2004. Inequality also remained a major challege, it said, adding that from 1960 to 1996 Thailand maintained a growth rate of 7.5 per cent but the growth slowed to an average of 3.3 per cent for 2005 to 2015. It said people's lives continued to improve but slowly, compared to neighbouring countries or ASEAN as a whole, with loss in global competitiveness cited as a major reason for the recent slowdown in growth. "Based on competitiveness scores between 2006/07 and 2016/17 compiled by the World Economic Forum, ASEAN countries like Malaysia and Vietnam have edged out Thailand on many areas," it said. The areas cited by the bank's were innovation, infrastructure, business environment, higher education and training. -- BERNAMA