Speech for General Prayut Chan-ocha,

Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand

“The Role of the Private Sector in Building ACMECS Community”

ACMECS CEO Forum

15 June 2018

• Thailand, the chair of ACMECS, organizes the ACMECS CEO Forum for the first time as a forum for the private sector under the framework of Ayeyawady - Chao Phraya - Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy.
• The key objective of ACMECS’s development cooperation is to foster economic development of the five member countries by taking advantages of cultural similarities in order to bridge the development gap among us.
• ACMECS economy has grown tremendously. The overall CLMVT economy has an average economic growth rate of around 6 – 8 percent per year, which is the highest growth rate in ASEAN. These economies have become the engine of growth that will drive the ASEAN and the global economy in the future.
• However, the global economy and the Asian economy have changed dramatically. Scientific and technological progress is taking place swiftly. As the world steps into the age of digital economy, ACMECS must speed up its adjustment to these changes.
• The location of ACMECS can link up with China’s “Belt and Road” and “Free and Open Indo - Pacific”,
  a strategy developed by the US and partners. Under these circumstances, there is an urgent need for ACMECS members and the development partners to work together to balance and maximize our collaboration in a unified manner, in order to maintain our role as the core of ASEAN.   
• At the 7^th ACMECS Summit in 2016, ACMECS agreed to cooperate to push for ACMECS reform.
  The ACMECS Master Plan aims to restructure and develop a cooperative strategy that can be implemented concretely, in line with the challenges that the members are facing in the sub-region today.
• Tomorrow, the 8^th ACMECS Summit will consider the adoption of the ACMECS Master Plan. The key principle of the ACMECS Master Plan is the focus on the seamless connectivity in the sub–region.
  The purpose of the Master Plan is to drive ACMECS towards becoming a competitive sub-region in the modern economy, equipped with infrastructure and good linkages among each other.
• Under this Master Plan, the private sector’s participation in ACMECS development will be very significant. The private sector will be the driver of regional supply chain integration, which will enable all sectors of the economy to move together simultaneously, and transform the sub-region into a single production base.
• First, ACMECS’ private sector must cooperate with the public sector in driving regional investment in order to connect ACMECS supply chain from upstream to downstream, and fully integrate the sub-region to the global economy.
• Private sector’s participation in the form of Public – Private Partnership or PPP is required. Thailand have begun our cooperation with private sectors through PPP to develop domestic infrastructure. One of the notable investment projects that the Thai government has given high priority is the Eastern Economic Corridor or EEC.
• Thailand proposes the inclusion of seamless connectivity of infrastructure into the ACMECS Master Plan as one of the ACMECS development pillars in the future.
• Second, the private sector needs to increase its role in enabling ACMECS to cope with the changing global economy, particularly changes due to new technology and innovations such as digital innovation,
  e-commerce, and Fintech.
• I invite the private sector to take an active role in determining targets for human resources development and innovation. I also call upon the private sector to participate in identifying issues that they would like to seek facilitation from the government, as well as rules and regulations that they would like to be made more flexible and harmonized in order to cope with rapid technological changes taking place at this moment.   
• The private sector should seize the opportunities from the economic strength that is emerging within Asia in order to move toward sustainable development and narrow the development gaps.      
• I encourage the private sector to work with the public sector and civil societies to create secured and friendly environments for cross borders cooperation in order to maintain stability and security, which will further support the continuously increasing economic activities along the borders.
• Third, the ACMECS private sector needs to collaborate to ensure economic development that everyone receives benefits, and grows together without leaving anyone behind.
• Thailand stands ready to provide technical assistance to ACMECS countries, especially the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy Program to promote local development, and strengthen growth in the agricultural sector from within to without. We are ready to provide necessary development assistance on the basis of individual needs and economic environment.
• The private sector also has a significant role to play in economic development, and needs to play a role in the inclusive distribution of economic prosperity at the local level.
• If the private sector in Thailand and ACMECS members could somehow link their investment projects to ensure that they are in line with the joint strategic development of ACMECS, investment fund would flow into the sub-region, leading to the mutual benefits of economic development.
• I truly believe that the ACMECS private sector can link its businesses together with ease. Creating economic linkage with non-CLMVT countries seems to become harder and harder at the time of escalating trade protectionism in the global economy.
• From Thailand’s perspective, apart from collaborating on border development, and enhancing connectivity in the manufacturing industrial supply chain, the area of businesses that could be expedited with immediate results is tourism within the ACMECS sub-region, and employment of workers from ACMECS countries.
• In the area of tourism, Thailand can utilize its strength as one of the top tourism destinations to distribute tourists to other ACMECS destinations. This is in line with the “Thailand+1 Policy” to boost up tourism markets in the sub-region.
• I, therefore, urge the ACMECS private sector in the tourism industry to step up efforts to promote and connect tourism markets together for mutual benefits of all countries.
• In the area of employment of workers, Thailand has implemented a policy that is open to foreign workers seeking to come to work in Thailand, especially those from ACMECS countries that share their borders with Thailand.
• On top of this, we have set up 10 designated areas as the Special Economic Zones or SEZ along the borders. The Special Economic Zones have potentials to receive a number of foreign workers. Measures to facilitate employment of foreign workers are also available in these areas.
• I urge the private sector and foreign investors to consider making investments in the Special Economic Zones, especially in industries that require a lot of raw materials or workers from other ACMECS countries, and those with integrated supply chains or value chains with ACMECS countries, such as agricultural processing, textile, logistics, tourism and cross border trade.
• Thailand reaffirm to ACMECS members and the private sector that we welcome foreign workers entering the country for work legally. We stand ready to ensure that they receive their rights in a fair manner.
• I urge the private sector to help ensure fair employment, and put a stop to illegal or abusive employment practices. In this way, workers from every country will receive their fair share of economic development in ACMECS.
• Today, Thailand is implementing the 20-year national strategic plan which gives priority to cooperation within this sub-region in order to advance our economies forward in a balanced manner, so that every country’s economy is strong and able to grow together.
• This approach is one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is also consistent with economic development under the philosophy of sufficiency economy, which stresses upon people-centered development and inclusive growth.
• I therefore invite the private sector from all countries to join hand in advancing, strengthening and deepening cooperation under the ACMECS framework.
• Today’s ACMECS CEO Forum is a good opportunity for representatives from the private and the public sector in this sub-region to share their thoughts and experiences with a view to reaching cooperation that all 5 countries can pursue together for common prosperity.
• Our principle is to be “stronger together and leave no one behind”. We must “think together, work together, and cooperate with each other” to build an ACEMCS community, in which all of you will have a significant role to play.
• I now announce ACMECS CEO Forum open. I wish todays’ meeting a great success. Thank you.

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