Despite the rhetoric from the Thai government around Thailand 4.0—the national strategy focused on accelerating innovation and digital transformation—Thailand still faces constraints in realising her future-ready vision.
The government seeks to facilitate investments within key technology-based industries, including intelligent electronics, advanced agriculture and biotechnology, food processing, medical tourism, digital technology and robotics.
However, there are concerns about the shortage of skilled labour available to meet the workforce demand. The labour demand within the EEC is estimated to exceed 475,000 people in the next five years. The current educational system within the three provinces at the centre of the EEC initiative can only supply 30% of the anticipated workforce.
The Thai government has recognised the urgency of the dearth of human capital and has undertaken various initiatives to address the skilled labour shortage and change public perception of vocational education.
The government has approved a budget of THB 861 million (US$28 million) to develop human resources in the EEC. The Office of Vocational Education Commission (OVEC) will also offer a wider range of courses related to the S-curve innovation sectors and advanced technologies like automation and robotics.
Read the full article at ASEAN Today.
Image by Sasin Tipchai from Pixabay
