Thailand eyes to become superpower in agriculture

BANGKOK, Jan 5 (TNA) –Thailand's strategies on competitiveness enhancement have already been worked out, covering a target on further developing the country to become one of the world's superpowers in agriculture. Sathit Limpongpan , who chairs a government committee in charge of tailoring the strategies on national competitiveness enhancement, told journalists on January 4 that the strategies have already been drafted and forwarded to the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB), in its capacity as the Secretary General to the government's Committee on National Strategies, to submit the draft to the Committee on National Strategies for further procedures. Sathit acknowledged that Thailand's strategies on competitiveness enhancement focus on driving the national development forward on top of previous steps by resorting to national comparative advantages for being seated on a geographical strategic location, as well as possessing the Thai identity, cultural and creative capital and biodiversity, which can be applied to and integrated with modern science and technology and digital innovations to add values to national products and services. Sathit explained that the value-added national development with higher competitiveness would be achieved by producing and increasing the potential of modern Thai "economic warriors" who would explore more trade and investment on world stages and by raising income and living conditions of the Thai people through the increased proportion of the middle-income population and reduced economic and social disparity in the country. According to the senior policy maker, the draft strategies on national competitiveness enhancement comprise of five parts, including the development of Thailand's agriculture, industries, tourism, connectivity and business operators. For the development of the Thai agricultural sector, where there are more than 25 million of Thai nationals or about 38 per cent of the total Thai population, the senior policy maker said it has been targeted in the strategies that Thailand would become and sustain a world superpower in agriculture with a high level of national income in the future. Besides, targets have been set to further develop the Thai industrial sector to become "future industries and services" in which remaining challenges would be handled and new opportunities would be comprehensively explored and the Thai tourism sector to become a magnet of global travellers through the Thai identity, culture, cuisine and local wisdom to create more jobs and income to local communities. The senior policy maker noted that the strategies also cover national targets of global connectivity, in which Thailand would become not only an economic hub of the ASEAN Community (AC), but also an Asian Super Corridor through the development of borderless transport infrastructure from East Asia to South Asia, and of the production of Thai "economic warriors" who would become smart business or agricultural operators with full skills, spirits, clear identity and competitiveness for running their startup firms, small and medium-sized and community enterprises in the future. (TNA)