STRATEGY OF PARTNERSHIP URGED AHEAD OF SINGLE MARKET

       Thailand's private sector is being urged to draw up strategies to make the most of the opportunities that will be made available once Asean countries form a single market and production base.
       Kiat Sittheeamorn, president of the Office of the Trade Representative, Kiat Sittheeamorn said Thai manufacturers should learn to look beyond the domestic market.
       "The private sector should be enthusiastically seeking partners in each country and planning how to utilise each country's resources and markets to expand their businesses. If the private sector takes serious action in setting up these strategies, the government will introduce measures such as tax incentives to support them in the future," he said.
       Kiat was speaking at the "Opportunity from Asean Economic Community" seminar held at the Foreign Ministry yesterday.
       He said once this financial crisis was over, trade focus would shift more toward China instead of the United States, so Asean+3 (which includes Japan, China and South Korea) should prove to be beneficial for Thai operators.
       "China has become the No-1 trading partner in every Asean country. Plus China is trying to increase the significance of the yuan, instead of the US dollar, in the global trading market particularly in Southeast Asia," he explained.
       Aat Pisarnvanich, director of the International Trade Studies Centre, University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Thai service sector were facing the risk of losing their competitiveness after the Asean free-trade agreement is put into effect next year.
       "We will allow Asean investors up to 71 per cent ownership in aviation, health, IT and tourism industries as well as up to 51 per cent in logistics business. Thai SMEs should realise this and prepare for intense competition in the near future," he said.
       Similarly, he said, Thailand's upstream industries should move to other Asean countries in order to utilise their resources and minimise production costs.
       "Operators in processed food, fishing and forestry industries have expanded their production bases in Laos, Burma, and Indonesia because of the plentiful natural resources. This is the direction Thai operators should be aware of. Meanwhile, more foreign investment will pour into Thailand particularly in IT and logistic businesses," he added.
       He added that the government should focus on developing the country's infrastructure, which is quite poor when compared to other Asean countries.