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42nd WORKSHOP MEETING OF HEADS OF NPOs
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 The meeting was
inaugurated by Mr. Dhawatchai Tangsanga, Executive
Director, FTPI on behalf of Mr. Manu Leopairote,
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Industry of Thailand,
Vice-Chairman of the APO Governing Body and the
APO Director for Thailand. Mr. Dhawatchai also
presented the inaugural address on behalf of Mr.
Manu. |
Mr. Takashi Tajima, APO Secretary-General; Distinguished Delegates; Advisors and Observers; Ladies and Gentlemen
On behalf of the Government of Thailand, it is my pleasure to welcome you to the 42nd Workshop Meeting of Heads of National Productivity Organizations. We are honored to host this annual event once again and hope that the relocation to Chiangmai will add another dimension to the usual vigor, enthusiasm and spirit of cooperation of the meeting.
Your task in the next few days will be to review and evaluate APO's work programs over the past year and to formulate medium and short-term plans in the context of emerging global trends. This is indeed a huge challenge. Economic situation in the US, Europe and Japan, the powerhouse of global economy, remains uncertain. And our economies in the Asia Pacific are greatly affected by it. Our respective governments have grappled with the tasks of how to overcome the rapacious forms of globalization that have ravaged our economies and societies in the last five years? How to optimize national resources and position the countries to take up the challenge of global competition? How to bridge the global digital divide and build the national capacities to manage globalization, so that our peoples and economies will not be left farther behind? NPOs and APO, of course, have important roles to play, particularly in the areas of optimizing the peoples' potential for balanced social and economic development.
At the last WSM, APO Chairman, Minister Lim Boon Heng of Singapore, urged APO members to focus our attention on the links between innovation, value creation and productivity in the current global context. One of the key points in his message was that innovation requires experimentation and freedom to create.
We now live in a world where value is being increasingly created through innovation. The old model of growth through industrialization and export, with government acting as a philanthropist, is no longer viable. To meet the requirements of the new economic realities, we can no longer rely on low cost labor and the types of foreign investment that brings with it secondhand technology or process that ravage natural resources and the environment. Of course, we value foreign investment. Of course, we strive to achieve technological excellence. But we must also rely on our own strengths to create a niche for our participation in an increasing globalized world.
The creation of value in this global context will be based on working with our unique strengths and traditional know-how, combined with new appropriate modern technology. The Asia-Pacific region possesses abundant resources, is home to over three billion people and accounts for a third of the global economy. We own half of the world's monetary reserve assets, and, despite the Asian Crisis, remains the fastest growing region in several key areas. Our diversity in resources, manpower, skills, local technical know-how and lifestyles, combined with our long history of producing world class goods and services are strengths which, properly leveraged, can place us firmly along the path of balanced and sustainable development.
This process means adopting a perspective from below and beginning to plan from the bottom up. It is essentially what we call grassroots development. It means looking at productivity issues at the community and local levels. It means enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of small and medium enterprises at that level rather than simply focusing on national aggregate increases enhanced through export promotion and foreign capital.
Thailand's New Development Strategy: Grassroots Development
Here in Thailand, the Government realized that the path we had been following no longer holds the promises it once did. The development model that had earlier enabled us to prosper also left us with certain weaknesses. The Government has, therefore, adopted a new development strategy based on the principle of self-sufficiency, sustainability and balanced national development. Several action programs have been initiated to revive the village economy and generate domestic demand at the grassroots level.
One of the pillars of the new development paradigm is the creation of the Village Investment Fund. Under this program, each village is provided with one million baht to develop its own income generating activities. Currently, more than seventy one thousand villages have registered for the program and over 75 percent have already benefited from it.
Another initiative was the "One Tambon, One Product", modeled after Oita prefecture in Japan. (Tambon is a community of a group of villages). The objective of the scheme is to expand domestic production and consumption utilizing local resources and thereby augment self-reliance. To support this scheme, a website has been created as a central point of information exchange about each tambon's demographic and geographic specifics as well as their products and services. Currently, the website provides information on about 2,100 Tambons, 7,000 local products and at least 3,000 tourist spots in Thailand.
Along the same line, two other initiatives aimed at strengthening the financial capacities of farmers and low-income earners have been launched. The first scheme provides for a temporary suspension of payments on farm debts to allow the farmers a respite and enable them to create more values from their farms. Some 2.25 million farmers are currently benefiting from this program.
The second scheme is the creation of a micro-credit program, modeled after the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, to provide small working capital for the poor. Through the Government Savings Bank, qualified people are allowed to initially borrow up to 15,000 baht each to start a small business. By December 2001, over 300,000 people had applied and more than 75 percent had received loans under this scheme.
As part of this year WSM, delegates will have the opportunities to visit the Royal Development Center and local craft villages and observe how villagers have benefited from these schemes. The visits were planned to highlight this new development framework. I hope you will find them interesting and informative.
Initiatives from FTPI
In line with the new Government initiatives, Thailand Productivity Institute has recently launched two new projects to increase productivity at the community level. The first is an in-depth study of local communities and their business activities to identify the factors that have been critical in their success and the way in which government and business can assist or harm them. The study will be used to develop a framework for the government to come up with a program of action to enhance the productivity of local community enterprises.
Secondly, FTPI is in the process of identifying the best practices of 300 community enterprises in Thailand with the aim of creating enterprise models for communities across the country. The optimum point in quality and quantity at which human, physical, social, and environmental capital intersect will be identified, providing a national database on local strengths which will be crucial for developing national and local programs of action.
While we have aligned our activities with the new government agenda in terms of improving productivity at the community level, much effort has also been expended on getting ready for the Thailand Quality Award. Our campaigns emphasize that winning the Award is not the end but rather the start of a longer journey towards excellence. The ultimate goal is that businesses will benefit from self-assessment and from using the TQA criteria in their operation and management system.
Needless to say, FTPI's main focus is the development of SMEs. FTPI was instrumental in the creation of one of the most ambitious schemes to assist SMEs - the Invigorating Thai Business Scheme - ITB. The rationale behind it was the recogniton that, since 1997, a large number of Thai businesses, particularly SMEs, have been suffering from a severe liquidity crunch and shrinking markets, both domestic and overseas. Many businesses have closed down. Without the government support, bankruptcies and job losses would continue.
Under ITB, the Ministry of Industry was allocated 2 billion baht to set up a fund for SMEs development. The fund is intended to assist SMEs in their quest for business improvement of the non-financial nature. Through in-depth analysis and professional guidance and training, enterprises that are operating at the border-line have a very good chance to ride out the tough times. With better prospect for efficiency and growth, financial institutions are expected to be more willing to extend credits. The scheme aims at ensuring the survival of, and strengthening the competitiveness of SMEs, with the expectation that their dynamism will help boost domestic spending and create jobs. It also aims to release capital, long held tightly by financial institutions suffering from non-performing loan syndrome, into the system.
In an increasingly globalized economy, competition will be fierce. To be competitive, productivity is the key. As we all know, productivity is not merely a simple ratio of input and output but has evolved to cover all aspects of production and services. We are, therefore, fortunate to have the presence of two very distinguished speakers at our meeting - Dr. Rung Kaewdaeng, Secretary General of the Office of National Education Commission, and His Serene Highness Prince Bhisatej Rajani, Chairman of the Royal Project, who will share with us their experiences and expertise on different facets of productivity.
Mr. Secretary-General, Distinguished Participants, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Under the leadership of Mr.Takashi Tajima, the APO has initiated many new projects and expanded the scope of existing ones to meet the new requirements of the new century. The focus on Knowledge Management, the expansion of the South-South Cooperation Program, the APO Best Practices Network, the departure from Five Year to Two Year Plan and the first publication of the Asia Pacific Productivity Data and Analysis -these are just some example. The secretariat has also adopted new work procedures for higher efficiency and effectiveness.
As the APO Director for Thailand, I would like to take this opportunity to record our appreciation to the Secretary-General and his able staff for their excellent work and to reaffirm our commitment and support to the APO. Thailand firmly believes that the APO's activities have been beneficial to all member countries. However, the APO can only be as strong and effective as member countries enable it to be. Let us keep building on the spirit of cooperation and utilize, to the fullest extent possible, our wisdom and intellect for the prosperous future and well-being of our peoples.
On this note, I am pleased to declare the 42nd WSM open.
Thank you.