Businessmen to urge Thai government to amend 37 laws

BANGKOK, August 26 (TNA) - With only slightly more than two years left before the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is implemented in 2015, businessmen are preparing to ask the Thai government to amend as many as 37 laws related to business that they believe are outdated. This is according to Payungsak Chartsuthipol, chairman of Federation of Thai Industries (FTI). He said the proposal to amend the laws would be submitted during a Joint Public/Private Sector Consultative Committee meeting, scheduled for next month in Uttaradit province. The meeting will be chaired by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. These laws, Mr. Payungsak said, are outdated and pose obstacles to boosting Thailand’s competitiveness on the global platform. They include on promoting trade and investment, as well as on the process of goods production. In a related development, ASEAN Secretary-General Dr. Surin Pitsuwan called out for sensible preparations to be made by 2015 for the AEC during his keynote speech at a business meeting in Lampang Province on Saturday. Employees, in particular, ought to improve their language skills, be versatile and willing to learn, so that they could cope with the AEC, Mr. Surin said, adding that Thai people should switch their interests to investing on research and produce innovative products and export them instead of competing on reducing workers’ wages. (TNA)