Bangkok: Thailand has transformed dramatically over the past 35 years. Since the IMF-World Bank Group Annual Meetings were last held in Bangkok in 1991, the country has created around 11 million formal jobs, more than doubled GDP per capita, and largely eliminated poverty at the lower-middle-income threshold. But Thailand's growth momentum has slowed since the COVID-19 pandemic. As Thailand aims to become a high-income country by 2037, the country needs a new blueprint to reignite growth, raise productivity, and create more and better jobs.
According to World Bank, Building Thailand's Future Today presents a shared, forward-looking vision for Thailand's transition to a high-income country, reflecting the ambitions and voices of stakeholders across Thai society. It was formed through a wide-ranging consultation process with the Thai government, civil society, students, academics, think tanks, and business leaders.
To reach high-income status by 2037, Thailand will need to lift real GDP per capita growth to an average of 5.4 percent a year over the next decade. The report lays out a vision and roadmap of actions to achieve this target. It shows that bold actions in four areas together could achieve this goal: building Thailand's industries of the future, building Thailand's firms of the future, investing in Thailand's future workforce, and building Thailand's cities of the future.
Under Building Thailand's industries of the future, the report identifies five industries with strong potential to drive productivity, investment, and high-quality job creation: advanced manufacturing, sustainable and wellness tourism, digital services, agrifood, and creative industries. The report presents 10 no-regrets immediate priorities to kick-start progress towards this vision and a detailed roadmap of further priorities over the next decade.