BANGKOK, 28 September 2012 – Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will preside over the opening of a workshop on preparations for the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), on 24 October 2012. The workshop is aimed at helping government units drafting plans for their operations when the country enters the AEC.
Prime Minister’s Office Minister Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisal said after a seminar on the AEC, organized by the Public Relations Department, that PM Yingluck had instructed all government agencies to clarify the details of their AEC plans, especially in terms of advantages and disadvantages of Thailand after the AEC came into force.
The plans must also include the private sector’s opinions about the AEC. After the workshop on 24 October, all government units were expected to complete the plans for immediate implementation.
Meanwhile, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Trade Negotiations Somkiat Trirattanaphan said the department was concerned about the liberalization of the service sector in ASEAN due to the fact that all member countries were approximately two years behind schedule.
Only 80 groups of service business from 128 have been liberalized so far due to problems concerning the legal process of each country.
The deputy director-general said he believed the problems would be tackled soon and all the128 groups of business in the service sector would be able to operate within ASEAN in 2015 as planned.
