Kingdom must take a lesson from a rapidly rising vietnam

The economists were part of a panel discussion about the economic potential of Thailand and Vietnam, which was jointly organised by the Foreign Ministry, the Thai-Vietnamese Friendship Association and the Thailand Research Fund (TRF).

They said Thailand currently scores better in overall indicators than Vietnam but Hanoi's political stability and clear and precise economic and investment policies have recently attracted new capital flows and accelerated economic growth at around 8 per cent per year - the highest in Asean.

Sethaputhi Suthvathanaputhi, an economist at Siam Commercial Bank, said that Vietnam's potential economic growth was extremely good due to the high percentage of young people under 20 years old - more than 36 per cent of an estimated 84 million population. Thailand has a considerably lower percentage at about 29 per cent.

Other economists said Thailand had to go beyond its current development stage by improving its education system and the population's information technology skills, which are far better among the Vietnamese.

Somkiart Tankitvanich, an economist at the Thailand Development Research Institute, pointed out that Thailand scores higher on overall infrastructure and mid-level managerial staffers as well as a better legal system and legal environment. But given its current rapid growth, Somkiart is confident that Vietnam will eventually catch up with Thailand in the future because of the growth of local markets and various economic reforms that have taken place.

Kittipong na Ranong, the Thai ambassador to Vietnam, said it was pivotal for the Thais to understand and appreciate Vietnam's strengths, and this would benefit Thailand in a globalised world and integrated regional economy. "Vietnam has very high purchasing power and opportunities for Thai investors are great," he said.

The two-day meeting, which ends today, discussed research papers on the economic potential of the two countries covering marine products, auto parts, rubber, labour conditions and tourism.