Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's dual-track economic policy combined with more emphasis on wider income distribution could serve as a model for other Unctad members in speeding up the development of their own economies, says an economist from Chulalongkorn University.
The Thaksin government's push to develop the grass-roots economy in the provinces combined with its campaign to attract foreign direct investment and promote exports have been instrumental to lifting the country out of the period of economic stagnation that occurred as result of the 1997-98 financial crisis, said Juanjai Ajanant.
He said these points may be discussed when developing countries meet at the 11th Unctad conference in Brazil next month.
Thailand hosted the 10th meeting of the UN Conference on Trade and Development in 2000.
At that time, the forces of globalisation were at the peak of their power and the world was looking forward to some glimmer of hope in the resumption of the Uruguay Round of world trade talks, he said.
This year's theme is "Enhancing Coherence between National Development Strategies and Global Economic Processes toward Economic Growth and Development".
It is a reflection of the need for developing countries to find solutions for themselves as multilateral talks at the World Trade Organisation have failed so far to deliver benefits to them, Mr Juanjai said.
He said that in Thailand, despite positive, concrete gains seen in the grass-roots economy, the country still needed to push for a sustainable recovery of its industrial sector and address fair income distribution rather than single-mindedly focusing on growth or gross domestic product (GDP).
Foreign direct investment tends to benefit job growth but not national income, he added.
In the age of the new economy, governments should try new ways to manage their economies, he said, adding that one approach might be selective rather than unconditional liberalisation.
Developing countries, he noted, also needed a new kind of special preferential treatment from developed countries. Assistance from Unctad to equip them with improved skills and knowledge in dealing with the influence of powerful multinational corporations that are pervasive in every aspect of the global economy, would be one way of addressing that, he said.Bangkok Post:
