The junta aims to raise the status of Thailand from an upper-middle income country to a high-income country to meet the criteria of the World Bank within 11 years.
Transport Minister and secretary-general to the National Economic and Social Board Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said Monday that the next economic improvement plan will aim to move Thailand to a high-income country, stabilize the economy and decrease the financial gap.
In the meeting Monday to draft the 12th national economic and social development plan, which will be effective for five years from 2017 – 2021, Arkhom said Thailand will join the high-income countries by 2026 as the new development plan will make the economy grow by five percent each year and increase a Thai’s average income to THB317,000 per year.
By the end of 2026 or the end of the 13th plan, a Thai’s average annual income is expected to increase to THB460,000 and Thailand will join the high-income countries regarded by World Bank alongside nations such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan.
But if the country’s growth rate remains at just three percent, the hope of achieving the high-income country status may have to be delayed by 10 years, or the end of the 14th or 15th development plan.
Thailand was moved up to an upper-middle income country in 2010 as the average annual income fell to around THB156,643, according to Thairath.
Arkhom said in the past five years, economic growth has been satisfactory, but Thailand’s reduced competitiveness and constraints in economic expansion posed an obstacle for the country to get out of the middle-income country trap.
To achieve a five percent growth rate per year, Arkhom said the government needs to attack different fronts simultaneously, including improving human resources and modernization of machinery, infrastructure investment, research and development to add value to farm products among others, Thai PBS and Now26 reported.
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