AMCHAM Membership Meeting with H.E. Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, Minister of Finance

On March 1, to over 100 attendees, AMCHAM held its virtual AMCHAM Membership Meeting with H.E. Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, Minister of Finance.

AMCHAM President, Greg Wong, Managing Director of Agoda, introduced new members who have recently joined the AMCHAM community and spoke about AMCHAM business. AMCHAM Board of Governor, Rachel Davidson, Cluster General Manager of Hilton and DoubleTree Hilton Sukhumvit introduced the keynote speaker, H.E. Arkhom Termpittayapaisith. H.E. Arkhom provided an overview on Thailand’s economic outlook and discussed a five-tiered plan involving tax reform, social protection reform, Thailand’s competitiveness in ease of doing business, digitization of the Thai economy, and quality investment involving sustainable finance.

He assured AMCHAM members that Thailand’s economic fundamental is still strong and resilient. Despite a contraction of 6 per cent in 2020, it is expected to resume growth in 2021 by 2.8 per cent. H.E. Arkhom stated that this growth will be driven externally by the recovery of the global economy and global trade and internally by the recovery of domestic demands, budget disbursement, and economic stimulus measures. H.E. Arkhom also highlighted that Thailand’s financial stability and financial institutions remain robust and resilient.

H.E. Arkhom spoke about key economic policies and reforms to navigate through Covid-19. He spoke about stimulus packages launched by the Government such as the Co-Payment Program, We Travel Together, and the Rao Chana (We win) scheme to help the vulnerable and boost domestic tourism. He also brought up the Royal Decree on soft loans for Small Medium Enetrprises (SMEs), which is under preparation to extend the scope of beneficiaries that would not only cover SMEs, but also to help larger corporates those who are affected by tourism during this time.

H.E. Arkhom further deep dived into five of Thailand’s economic priorities – tax reform and social protection reforms, social protection for vulnerable and informal sectors, increasing Thailand’s competitiveness by supporting higher value-added industries or smart industries in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), digitization of the Thai economy, the Bio-Circular-Green economic model (BCG) for economic development, and to scale up quality investments with sustainable financing.

H.E. Arkhom highlighted that Covid-19 has accelerated digital adoption and Thailand’s transition to a digital economy as witnessed with the rise in e-commerce and usage of e-wallets and prompt pay. He spoke about the growth of Thailand’s digital network infrastructure – both in terms of coverage and speed with program such as the village broadband internet project and rollout of 5G networks, 5G technology, in the EEC area to promote digital industries. He also talked about the Ministry’s progress towards digital economy. The Revenue Department has enabled many corporate and taxpayers to file and pay taxes electronically and has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Board of Investment (BOI) to facilitate the filing of BOI registries for tax incentive through e-monitoring platform.

Through the BCG Model, Thailand is committed to promoting growth that is not only sustainable but will ensure that it is also inclusive to the people and friendly to the environment. He stated that Thailand will continue to invest in sectors that help address the issues of carbon emission and the Ministry is committed to the continuation of sustainability bond program.

The discussion was followed by a lively Question and Answers session with AMCHAM members. Members asked questions on plans to leverage e-wallet for healthcare, expanding Public-Private Partnerships in healthcare, reasons for Baht appreciation, and future policies and reforms. H.E. Arkhom invited AMCHAM members to participate in programs prioritized by the Thai Government and invest in the EEC as we work on economic revival and prepare for post-pandemic world.