Thaïlande

What are the structural barriers to women's empowerment and inclusive development in Southeast Asia? Building on data from the fifth edition of the SIGI, the SIGI 2024 Regional Report for Southeast Asia: Time to Care provides new evidence-based analysis on the progress and setbacks in eliminating the root causes of gender inequality in 11 countries of the region. It underscores how multiple personal status laws perpetuate gender-based legal discrimination. The analysis also shows that social norms governing gender roles and responsibilities worsened between 2014 and 2022, particularly affecting women’s educational and economic rights. The report explores a critical policy area for the region, the care economy. Stressing the gendered, informal, and unpaid dimensions of care, it draws on social, demographic, educational and economic evidence to forecast a growing demand for care services in Southeast Asian countries. The report advocates for the strategic development of formal care systems as a unique opportunity to accelerate women's economic empowerment, build inclusive societies and strengthen the region's resilience to external shocks – including those induced by climate change. To dismantle the barriers that prevent the emergence and expansion of such a formal care economy, it provides concrete recommendations to policy makers and other stakeholders.

Subnational governments in Asia and the Pacific are key providers of the public services and infrastructure required to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Given this role, it is essential that policymakers and development partners understand and support the effective functioning of multi-level governance structures and subnational government finances across the region. This joint OECD-ADB report provides a comprehensive overview of subnational governments across Asia and the Pacific. It covers over 467,000 subnational governments from 26 countries, which represent 53% of the world’s population and 40% of global GDP. On average in 2020, subnational governments in the region accounted for 29% of total public expenditure (8.8% of GDP), 35% of total public revenue (8.5% of GDP) and 38% of public investment (2% of GDP). Harnessing unique data from the 3rd edition of the OECD-UCLG World Observatory on Subnational Government Finance and Investment, the analysis highlights how decentralisation and territorial reforms have reconfigured the structures and finances of subnational governments in the region. It covers a range of topics including fiscal rules, financial management capacity, priority-based budgeting, asset management and the use of public-private partnerships.

The Economic Outlook for Southeast Asia, China and India is a regular publication on regional economic growth and development in Emerging Asia. It focuses on the economic conditions of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam. It also addresses relevant economic issues in China and India to fully reflect developments in the region. This Update presents the region’s economic outlook, depicting rapidly changing trends and macroeconomic challenges amidst external headwinds.

Biorefineries present an alternative to fossil-based production, and can create employment, wealth and the ecosystem needed to make them function. Thailand is establishing a bioeconomy with widespread biorefining as a strategy for future economic growth. There is political will to establish in Thailand, if feasible, small, decentralised biorefineries to which farmers can locally deliver biomass as feedstock, which can then be processed into bio-based products. This would help to relieve rural poverty, which is still a problem in some areas of Thailand despite progress. Developing a biorefining roadmap will help to assess the feasibility of such an initiative.

Water-related infrastructure could contribute significantly to the development of the Mekong region. At the same time, poor water infrastructure could lead to development challenges for the countries in the region. Innovation for Water Infrastructure Development in the Mekong Region discusses the challenges facing the region as well as the possible innovative policy options, including those used in Emerging Asian countries, and with reference to the experiences of OECD member countries. It provides analysis and recommendations for the region’s policy makers to consider in their efforts to improve water infrastructure. The report first provides an overview of the socio-economic contributions and environmental challenges of the Mekong River. It then presents some potential new financing options for the development of water infrastructure, using digital tools such as Fintech and blockchain. It also examines the potential of using the spillover effect of tax revenues to attract private finance. It then goes on to discuss the importance of strengthening water infrastructure resilience against natural disasters, including the current COVID-19 pandemic, and finally analyses the challenges of water regulations in the Mekong region.

Thailand is a fast emerging country that aspires to become a high-income economy by 2037. Strong growth has enabled the country to join the group of upper-middle-income economies in the early 2010s and to perform well in many areas. At the same time, the benefits of prosperity have not been shared evenly nationwide and the economic development has taken a toll on the environment. Moving forward, Thailand needs to master three transitions to build capabilities and sustain faster but also more inclusive economic growth: enabling further growth by unlocking the full potential of all Thailand’s regions; developing more effective methods of organisation and collaboration between actors and levels of government; managing water security and disaster risk. Based on the previous volume’s in-depth analysis and policy recommendations, this report suggests a set of actions to support these transitions. The actions focus on the North of Thailand, one of the most diverse and yet poorest regions of the country.

Thailand is a fast emerging country that aspires to become a high-income economy by 2037. Still, Thailand’s growth path has created large disparities that risk obstructing the next stage of development. This report lays out three transitions that Thailand needs to master to build capabilities and sustain faster but also more inclusive economic growth. First, the country should move from a growth path dominated by few and geographically concentrated sources of innovation to one that focuses on unlocking the full potential of all regions. Second, to support a new growth agenda, it should organise multi-level governance and the relationship between the many layers of government more effectively, particularly with regards to financial resources. Last but not least, Thailand should focus on water and environment, moving from a resource-intensive growth path with costly natural disasters to one characterised by sustainable development. In the case of water, this means moving from ad-hoc responses to effective management of water security.

Asian cities are particularly vulnerable to risks associated with natural disasters. While they are exposed to various types of natural hazards, flooding and other water-related disasters pose particularly significant risks and undermine long-term economic growth, especially in coastal cities. Managing such natural disaster risks is an essential component of urban policies in fast-growing Southeast Asian cities, especially as the impacts of climate change worsen. In addition to providing a framework for assessing disaster risk management policies in cities, this report also presents the results of assessment and locally tailored policy recommendations in five cities of different institutional, geographic, socio-economic and environmental contexts in Southeast Asia. They include Bandung (Indonesia), Bangkok (Thailand), Cebu (Philippines), Hai Phong (Viet Nam) and Iskandar (Malaysia). The study highlights that Southeast Asian cities are largely underprepared for natural disaster risks. Through an assessment of disaster risk management (DRM) policies at national and subnational levels, the study aims to enhance urban resilience by: i) identifying policy challenges related to DRM ; ii) assessing the impacts of current DRM policy practices; and iii) proposing more efficient and effective policy options to enhance urban resilience.

This publication is the first case study of the Urban Green Growth in Dynamic Asia project. The project explores how to promote green growth in fast-growing cities in Asia by examining policies and governance practices that encourage greening and competitiveness in a rapidly expanding economy. It is part of the OECD Green Growth Studies series, which will culminate in a synthesis report on Urban Green Growth in Dynamic Asia. This report analyses the economic and environmental performance and green growth policy practices of Thailand’s Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR). As a dynamic and emerging market economy, Thailand has recorded strong growth over recent decades and is expected to continue to do so, but this growth has come at a high environmental cost. The challenge is therefore to improve environmental outcomes while supporting continued growth in output and living standards. Thailand's government and BMA have taken steps to encourage green growth in the BMR, but much untapped potential remains, particularly in the following areas: land use and transport, renewable energy and energy efficiency in buildings, and water resources and solid waste management. Resilience to floods is also an urgent cross-cutting issue that requires further attention.

This edition of the Southeast Asian Economic Outlook examines medium-term growth prospects, recent macroeconomic policy challenges, and structural challenges including human capital, infrastructure and SME development.  It also looks at economic disparities 'between' and 'within' countries in the region.  It provides coverage for Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam. While solid growth is forecast to continue until 2017, countries must address structural issues in order to sustain this favourable outlook. Narrowing development gaps presents one of the region’s most important challenges.