Time for decisiveness on logistics

       If Thailand wants to achieve its hope of becoming the logistics centre for Southeast Asia, the government must act decisively and rapidly to develop the infrastructure for logistics, said former finance minister M.R. Pridiyathorn Devakula.
       M.R. Pridiyathorn, also a former Bank of Thailand governor, wants to establish a decision-making body to develop local infrastructure and industrial sector competitiveness.
       "The country's economic competitiveness relies very much on logistics costs. The government already knows what to do but the decision makers are still very slow to do anything," he said.
       He made the comments at a seminar called "Logistics Asia 2009: Repositioning Thailand in the Global Value Chain",organised by the Thailand Management Association (TMA) in collaboration with the Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC)and the Transport Institute of Chulalongkorn University to discuss the future direction of local logistics development.
       M.R. Pridiyathorn said the economic crisis shifted the world's economic growth engine to Asia. That could translate into brisk trading traffic in the region.
       To accommodate this change, logistics cost reduction would promote Thailand as a logistics hub to serve this upsurge in goods transport.
       "Cheaper cost will support local in-dustrial competitiveness and attract more foreign investment to the country,"M.R. Pridiyathorn said.
       "There are lots of projects that are in different stages - some are already planned and ready to be implemented - but what is needed is a decisionmaker who has the guts to make a decision."
       The country's logistics system relies on road for over 80% of traffic, with 2%marine transport and the rest through rail. But road transport is the most expensive and fuel-thirsty, so Thailand needs to develop other modes, he said.
       The first step is developing sea transport as it is the easiest and can be done by private sector investment.
       "Two important port routes are those linking Laem Chabang and Bangkok to the South. For rail, more dual-track routes are needed while a rail extension to link Thailand with southern China would also improve our trade with the giant economy," he said.
       Extension of airport facilities to accommodate more human traffic and cargo also needs to go ahead.
       "A more open-eyed approach at how Thailand would play as a regional logistics centre also needs to be considered,"said M.R. Pridiyathorn.
       "We need a tool to link the east and west, linking the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea through a landbridge.Once accomplished, crude transport from the Middle East to Korea and China will be able to go through this route.This will allow us to be a regional transport route in Asia."
       He added that infrastructure such as a landbridge and the long-delayed Southern Seaboard would also be crucial in accommodating more investment in petroleum and related sectors such as petrochemicals.
       "Establishing the link would also open our export routes to Africa and the Middle East, which are growing markets.China would also be interested in using this route to provide to emerging markets," he said.
       He also criticised the government for paying too little attention to economic issues, adding that the Map Ta Phut court order that halted 76 projects was the result of indecisive action to tackle pollution problems by past governments.
       "The government must take the case as a lesson for future infrastructure development and also to win back investment," said M.R. Pridiyathorn.