Center for International Economics Suggests Flexibility as Key to Industrial Advantage
Amidst the COVID-19 situation that still poses a challenge to the industrial sector, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Piti Srisangnam, the Director of the Center for International Economics at Chulalongkorn University which was established to study and research issues related to international economics and distribute to the society, has analyzed that the Thai industrial sector still has potential to move forward. He also revealed insightful perspectives on how entrepreneurs may adapt their business sustainably.
“During the years 2021-2022, there will be four factors that affect the Thai economy including the changing of the value chain, the balance of power in international politics, disruptive technology, and climate change. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected these four factors. For example, it disrupts the normal operation of the international value chain because now many countries have to rely on domestic or regional value chain instead. In some cases, the pandemic has accelerated the speed of the previously forecast phenomena including the widespread adoption of disruptive technology. The lockdown and work from home policies have increased users’ dependability on technology in many areas including business, education, and lifestyle.
The balance of power among large countries especially between the United States and China as well as their allies will need to be closely monitored. This is because the policies they may issue could affect Thailand’s manufacturing sector. For example, the USA’ focus on clean energy and China’s dual circulation. Since Thailand is the subcontractor of industrial products and exports to many countries, Thai entrepreneurs should review their core businesses, study global trends and find the ways to adapt along with industry partners to provide flexibility in their business options and in line with the needs of customers in the future.
Today, Thailand is in a good position because we have cordial relationship with the USA, China and India. It is worth noting that the USA under Joe Biden will be focusing on Asia more than his predecessor, so we should take advantage by cooperating with every country. At the same time, we should learn how to reduce costs and increase trade treaties to stimulate further economic expansion.
The opportunities for Thailand in the future will come from creative industry, because Thailand has the strength in biodiversity, culture, culinary and art, all of which can be used to build a customer base just like South Korea or Japan. Moreover, many of the younger generation are very adept at coding technology and designing applications, so we have the room to grow in high technology as well. If these bright minds are provided with a proper ecosystem as well as leadership training, we could really go far in the world arena.”
Trade Exhibitions: Opportunities for Business Development, Networks Expansion, and Information Gathering
“Trade exhibitions have the nature to be organized only for a certain period of time on a set space. Thus, exhibitors will only select their key products to showcase. In turn, they are given the opportunity to study the key products from other exhibitors which help them expand their business vision, allow them to meet potential partners in the same industry and across industries. This leads to the exchange of innovations that could be used to develop a more flexible production line. In addition, when meeting many customers on site, exhibitors will be able to gather enormous useful information directly. This will allow them to extract knowhow and lay out strategies to strengthen their business in the long run.”