Formulation of the Trade Related Technical Assistance Project to Thailand

The Project at A Glance

Thailand is recognised as one of the most successful countries in the South-East Asia region in terms of social and economic development. In less than a generation, the country transitioned from a low-income economy to an upper-middle-income economy. Thailand’s growth has largely been driven by its effective integration into the global and regional trading system, its resilient domestic market, and an improved business-enabling environment. However, Thailand also faces numerous structural constraints that may hinder its growth, unless appropriate mitigating policies are undertaken.
International Economics Consulting Ltd. (IEC) supported the design of a specific Trade-Related Technical Assistance (TRTA) national programme for Thailand. This project, under the framework of the regional ARISE+ programme and the ASEAN Economic Integration Agenda, aimed at delivering key lessons, defining priorities and providing recommendations to assist the EU Delegation to Thailand to formulate the TRTA national programme.

What We Found

Thailand identified its long-term economic goals in its 20-Year National Strategy (2017-2036). It aims to attain developed country status by undertaking broad and ambitious reforms. The reforms seek to address economic stability, human capital, equal economic opportunities, environmental sustainability, competitiveness, and effective government bureaucracies.
The proposed TRTA programme is deemed ideal for promoting the achievements of Thailand’s targets. The TRTA promotes the adoption of a rules-based system for public procurement and competition, integrating the principles of transparency and due process. As such, the TRTA has the potential of contributing to the defence of Thailand’s public interest and enhancing the investment climate. The TRTA also supports the creation of jobs and promotes the transfer of technology and know-how. This will equally contribute to the country’s sustainable development efforts and increase the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises. Moreover, ensuring that Thailand’s private sector complies with EU norms and standards with regard to the best practices in the area of competition and public procurement can also act as an incentive for further European FDI in Thailand.

Our Strategy and Impact

The overall aim of the TRTA was to support Thailand in the implementation of important domestic reforms in order to improve the business and investment environment in Thailand. The objective is also aligned with the ASEAN’s ambitions, which is long-term sustainable economic growth in the region. More specifically, the initiative identified three specific objectives namely:

Strengthening the institutional capacity of the institutions in charge of competition law and improving regulatory practices with a view to achieving a more transparent, predictable and competitive trade environment;
Improving the implementation of laws on procurement and strengthening the institutional capacity of the institutions responsible for this law
Improving best practices in Thailand and ASEAN with regard to sustainable agricultural export development standards.
The expected results are directly aligned with the above specific objectives.

Our Core Solutions

At International Economics Consulting, we build tailor-made strategies for both import and export-oriented business solutions. We carry out sensitivity analysis and prepare detailed resource scheduling and standard performance dashboards to track the implementation process and financial ratio performance of your products and services. We help investors assess the opportunities in different markets, determine the feasibility and viability of projects, and benchmark the wider ecosystem to support business growth. We also assist clients in building economic indicators to analyse the trade flows and identify patterns, trends, and trade complementarity in value chains of goods and services between member countries.