Thaïlande

Under Action 14, countries have committed to implement a minimum standard to strengthen the effectiveness and efficiency of the mutual agreement procedure (MAP). The MAP is included in Article 25 of the OECD Model Tax Convention and commits countries to endeavour to resolve disputes related to the interpretation and application of tax treaties. The Action 14 Minimum Standard has been translated into specific terms of reference and a methodology for the peer review and monitoring process. The peer review process is conducted in two stages. Stage 1 assesses countries against the terms of reference of the minimum standard according to an agreed schedule of review. Stage 2 focuses on monitoring the follow-up of any recommendations resulting from jurisdictions' Stage 1 peer review report. This report reflects the outcome of the Stage 1 peer monitoring of the implementation of the Action 14 Minimum Standard by Thailand.

Thailand has had a remarkable economic development trajectory over the past 60 years and foreign direct investment (FDI) has been pivotal in this success. Thailand was one of the first movers in opening up to manufacturing FDI and in establishing proactive investment promotion and facilitation policies. While challenges remain in some areas of responsible business conduct, there is strong political will to address them. Thailand aspires to become a high income economy by 2037 by upgrading to a value based green economy. Inward FDI will play a prominent role in achieving this goal but this requires a concerted effort to reform the investment climate to remain an attractive host to foreign investment and to benefit to the full extent from that investment. While the COVID-19 crisis might temporarily delay progress, the policy recommendations in this review draw attention to potential reform priorities to help Thailand fulfil its development ambitions aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals and to contribute to a more inclusive and sustainable recovery from the pandemic.

In light of population ageing, globalisation, automation, and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Thailand’s labour market is being significantly reshaped, and so are the skills required for higher employability. This paper analyses the capacity of Thailand’s education and training system to develop relevant skills from the pre-primary to higher education level, and explores the current state of skills imbalances in the country. It identifies accessibility of schooling, provision of relevant teacher training, and sustained competitiveness of higher education institutions as key areas for improvement. It also points to large skills shortages in the education, and health and social work sectors, and prevalent qualification and field-of-study mismatches. The findings highlight that a responsive education system, together with high-quality life-long learning opportunities that are accessible to all and aligned with skill needs, will be essential to equip Thai people with the right skills for navigating the rapidly changing world.

Services are an important part of global economic activity and of international trade. Nevertheless, compared to its very large tourism sector, the sector of high-end business services in Thailand remains small. As IT and information, and professional services are traded indirectly through value chains and are now crucial elements of manufacturing, strengthening these services would benefit Thailand in its post-COVID-19 participation of global value chains, enhancing the competitiveness of its manufacturers. This paper analyses how Thailand can seize the opportunity of growing international trade in services. It points out that liberalising services sector markets would strengthen the competitiveness of the services sectors and boost productivity not only in the sectors, but also in manufacturing sectors that rely on these services as input. In this regard, Thailand can benefit more from service-oriented Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs). Moreover, eliminating FDI restrictions would not only be crucial to spur employment and exports, but also benefit consumers. The paper identifies that, to maximise the benefits of services trade integration, Thailand needs to step up policies to re- and up-skill workers and make the labour market more flexible.

Ce rapport est une édition spéciale du Tableau de bord de l’OCDE sur le financement des PME et des entrepreneurs, publication phare de l’OCDE. Il examine en détail les conséquences du COVID-19 sur l’accès des PME au financement, ainsi que les mesures prises en conséquence par les pouvoirs publics. Il apparaît qu’avant la crise, les conditions de financement étaient globalement favorables pour les PME et les entrepreneurs, qui bénéficiaient de faibles taux d’intérêt, de critères accommodants d’octroi des crédits et d’une offre de plus en plus diversifiée d’instruments de financement. Mais la crise du COVID‑19 a profondément bouleversé l’accès des PME au financement. Plus particulièrement, l’effondrement brutal du chiffre d’affaires des entreprises a provoqué de graves pénuries de liquidités qui ont mis en danger la survie de bon nombre d’entreprises viables. Ce rapport fait état d’une augmentation de la demande de prêts bancaires au cours du premier semestre de 2020, et d’une stabilité de l’offre de crédit grâce à l’action des pouvoirs publics. Parallèlement, on a observé un recul d’autres sources de financement, en particulier l’apport de fonds propres au stade du démarrage. Le rapport réunit des données sur le périmètre et l’ampleur des mesures prises par les gouvernements dans le monde, et en précise les principales caractéristiques. Il décrit les principaux enjeux stratégiques du financement des PME qui se poseront au cours des prochaines phases de la pandémie ; il s’agira en effet d’éviter le surendettement des PME, de promouvoir une gamme diversifiée d’instruments de financement, de stimuler la création d’entreprises et de renforcer la résilience des PME par des mesures structurelles.

The Economic Outlook for Southeast Asia, China and India is a regular publication on regional economic growth, development and regional integration 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 economic developments in the region. This November Update of the Outlook, following the Update 2020 released in July, presents a regional economic monitor, depicting the economic outlook and macroeconomic challenges in the region amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Non-cognitive characteristics of students in four Southeast Asian countries – Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Viet Nam – were reviewed based on the PISA 2009, 2012, and 2015 data. Overall, students in this region demonstrated similarities with respect to their non-cognitive dispositions such as learning habits, approaches to learning, motivation for school subject matters and self-beliefs about their abilities. The non-cognitive characteristics that were most prevalent in the region included enjoyment and instrumental motivation to learn, which were evidenced by the indices of intrinsicmotivation for mathematics (INTMAT), instrumental motivation for mathematics (INSTMOT), enjoyment in learning of science (JOYSCIE), and instrumental motivation in learning science (INSTSCIE). However, these variables were not strong predictors of student achievement in this region. The review also revealed that the best non-cognitive predictors of student achievement were metacognitive awareness (METASUM and UNDREM) for reading achievement; self-efficacy, self-concept, and anxiety (MATHEFF, SCMAT, and ANXMAT) for mathematics achievement; and environmental awareness and epistemological beliefs (ENVAWARE and EPIST) for science achievement. These variables were also the best predictors, on average, across all PISA participants and economies. However, some region-specific non-cognitive predictors were also noted. These were intrinsic motivation (INTMAT) in Malaysia; perseverance (PERSEV) in Thailand; and mathematics intentions (MATINTFC)in Viet Nam. Overall, the similarities found in the non-cognitive characteristics among Southeast Asian students suggest that (a) regional collaboration in designing the educational strategies may be beneficial and that (b) an implementation of regional questionnaires in future PISA surveys may be useful to gain an in-depth understanding of achievement-related factors in this region.

Thailand has made impressive economic and social progress over several decades. However, the COVID-19 crisis has interrupted this progress. Thanks to its sound macroeconomic policy framework, Thailand was well placed to respond rapidly to the sharp economic downturn. Nevertheless, achieving high-income country status will require, in addition to a strong recovery programme, a set of policy reforms focused on productivity growth and human capital accumulation. Thailand has made remarkable progress in expanding access to education, and the share of highly educated workers has increased significantly. Nevertheless, because of skills mismatches, substantial labour shortages have prevailed in a range of occupations and industries, which makes it important to improve vocational education and adult training programmes. As the demand for services has become important globally, Thailand has an opportunity to boost its exports of services, diversify its economic activity, and therefore become more resilient in the face of unexpected shocks. This would involve a focus on digital services and business-to-business services, which represent a large share of the value of manufacturing products. Focus on human capital, skills, digital technology, and high-value services would help Thailand resume strong economic growth and social progress after the COVID-19 crisis. SPECIAL FEATURES: HUMAN CAPITAL; TRADE IN SERVICES