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Dual Vocational Training

Baht appreciation will not push exports off target, says MOC

Many countries keen to invest in Islamic Bank of Thailand

Chamber of commerce sets up entrepreneurship development center

Myanmar gives green light to economic road link

Thailand and Philippines join to beat trade barriers

Dual Vocational Training

Bridging the gap between industrial needs and education - at the German Business Lunch

Sue K.

Presenting the topic, Walter Kretschmar, the German director of The Thai-German Institute laid out the vision and the mission of a renewed initiative in Dual Vocational Training to suit industrial needs.

“Company employers often complain of a shortage of skilled labor, particularly the highly-trained technical staff with practical understanding of the real working environment. Yet to face and handle challenges of a global economy, Thai as well as international companies need to keep or regain their competitive positions.

On behalf of the Thai German Institute, Chonburi, Walter Kretschmar, the German Director receives an award from H.E. Pongpol Adireksarn, Minister of Education during a ceremony at the Queen Sirikit center. The reward reflects the Institute’s role in bringing vocational education to the industrial sector. TGI was jointly established by the Thai and German governments, to provide training in the field of Advanced Manufacturing Technology to Thailand’s industrial workforce. The awards were organized by the Vocational Education Commission.

“Many questions have arisen. How to obtain or increase the number of skilled workers in their companies? How best to prepare Thai people for the challenges of the modern world of work?

“The freshly baked graduates often need many more training hours before they are accepted by most companies that require experienced staff. But how can they get any experience if they are not employed? Catch 22?

“Bridging the gap between education and actual industrial needs was attempted when with the support of the German government, a system called Dual Vocational Training or DVT was introduced to Thailand in 1988.

“It is a system which generates very close cooperation between colleges and companies, both acting as equal partners in the development of the training curriculum, selection of the apprentices, and testing at the end of the training. The companies then take these apprentices into their own workforce. In 1995 the system was put into nationwide use and by 2002 it was offering training in 40 different occupational fields.

“However, DVT in Thailand has still not reached its full potential. The need to bring the vocational education sector closer to the professional workplace in order to understand the real working environment is still there.

“Additional hurdles are when many companies in Thailand are not familiar with the DVT system available, and do not know how to find apprentices or Lehrlinge, while most colleges still run on their traditional system and are not proactive on industrial focus.

“The process of creating awareness and cooperation in DVT must be speeded up and move on to the next stage if we are to be able to keep up with fast paced changing world, especially with the technology innovation that doubles every second year.

“With this in mind, The Thai-German Institute has been developing a more efficient strategy, to act as the match maker between International companies in Thailand and the colleges under the Department of Vocational Education (DOVE) which has recently been changed to Vocational Education Commission (VEC).

“A user group will be set up for each industrial estate e.g. Chonburi/Eastern Seaboard. This user group will help define the standards and procedures out of industry’s point of view and synchronize with the colleges. The companies then take the active role in curriculum development and the recruitment of trainees, offer in-house training and work experience.

“The user group will be implemented in October this year, and apprenticeship projects will commence early next year.

“A pilot project is already underway with BMW (Thailand) agreeing to act as a lead industrial partner, proposing a plan which matches European standards, while the participating colleges carry out the training.

“TGI and DVT are seeking more companies to participate in this new initiative. The benefits for your companies are clear: access to highly skilled staff chosen and trained in a curriculum designed specifically to meet your own requirements, and with direct experience of your workplace.

“The training will be supported by Vocational Education Commission (VEC) while TGI will be the liaison between your company and the training institutions,” Kretschmar said.

“Walter ended his presentation with food for thought: “We, as international companies are guests here in Thailand. We have a responsibility to help and share with our host country. Your contribution to the human resource development will not only boost the potential of your own company, but it will also show your personal commitment to the betterment of Thailand in economy and society.”

Please contact TGI now for more information or to make an appointment for a visit at our Customer Relationship Management Center: 038-456800

Email: [email protected] For personal contact with the German Director of the institute: Email: kretschmar @tgi.or.th


Baht appreciation will not push exports off target, says MOC

Commerce Minister Adisai Bodharamik has expressed confidence that the appreciation of the baht will not prevent this year’s export figures from hitting the government’s target of USD76 billion, saying that even if the baht strengthened to 40 baht to the US dollar the export target would be unaffected.

Adisai said that the government was not overly concerned about the continual appreciation of the baht, which has seen it hit 41 baht to the dollar, saying that the government was keen to see a short and medium term strengthening of the Thai currency in order to boost confidence in the Thai economy as a whole.

While conceding that in the long term the government wanted to see greater currency stability, he said that minor fluctuations at the present time would not pose any significant problems.

“The current appreciation of the baht should not generate any major problems overall, but will rather serve to stabilize the economy over the next 3-4 months. The government wants to see the baht stabilize, even if it will lead to a slight drop in exports. But looking at the overall picture, I am confident that the Thai economy will grow by no less than 5.5 percent this year,” Adisai said.

Adisai also dismissed suggestions that the Ministry of Commerce’s announcement of both unofficial and official monthly export figures would confuse exporters or analysts, saying that the announcement of unofficial figures was designed to display overall export trends to the general public and to give the public the latest information in line with rapid national development.

Although he admitted discrepancies between the figures released by the Bank of Thailand (BOT) and those issued by the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB), he said that these differences were minimal and did not pose a problem. (TNA)


Many countries keen to invest in Islamic Bank of Thailand

Many countries have expressed their interest in jointly investing in the Islamic Bank of Thailand, which was inaugurated on 18 August, according to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The Thai leader said that the Brunei government, through Brunei Investment Agency, had invested in the bank; while other countries had also expressed their interest in becoming partners with the kingdom’s first Islamic bank.

Brunei had also extended technical assistance to support the Islamic Bank of Thailand by sending its specialists to share their expertise and experiences, Thaksin noted. “This is a very positive sign for the Islamic Bank of Thailand.”

Thailand’s first Islamic bank was legally established under the Islamic principles, and the government plans to quickly expand its branches to Muslim communities throughout the country. (TNA)


Chamber of commerce sets up entrepreneurship development center

The Thai Chamber of Commerce has established an entrepreneurship development institute in a bid to boost national competitiveness, which it hopes will train 5,000 Thai entrepreneurs in its first year and hopes to be up and running by the end of September.

The chamber’s president, Art Taolanonda, said, “The Thai Institute for the Development of Entrepreneurs, an independent agency under the auspices of the TCC, has been set up in order to promote the development and creation of entrepreneurs in various areas and to boost their business competitiveness. This is in line with the government’s strategy of raising the competitiveness of Thai entrepreneurs in response to growing competition on the global market.”

The institute will target a wide range of businesses across the country, from TCC members to non-members and anyone interested in becoming an entrepreneur. In provincial areas the TCC will liaise with provincial chambers of commerce to provide training.

The institute will emphasize the practical application of knowledge rather than theoretical training and organize specialist courses in business legislation, business opportunities and marketing channels to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), such as marketing and sales strategies and administration. (TNA)


Myanmar gives green light to economic road link

A Thai private sector company has begun construction on a 2.8 billion baht road linking the southern province of Prachuap Khiri Khan in Thailand with Tenasserim and Myeik in Myanmar, following authorization from Myanmar’s Mon State.

Phisan Nakho, coordinator for Vantage Co. Ltd., which has won a concession from Myanmar’s State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) for the construction of the 195 kilometer road, announced that Myanmar had given authorization for Summit Grade Co. (otherwise known as Sam Prasit Co.) to bring personnel, machinery and equipment into Myanmar in order to build the cross-border route passing through Baan Moo Dong, opposite Thailand’s Singkhorn checkpoint.

The governor of Myeik Province laid down plans for the development of Moo Dong, allowing the Thai company to invest in the construction of all public facilities, including schools, a police station and a hospital. Phisan said that in the future the company would also invest in the construction of a five-star hotel and a casino.

Noting that the company had already won a 20-year concession to build a road linking the Gulf of Thailand with the Andaman Sea, Phisan said that it had also set aside a budget of 160 billion baht to invest in the construction of a 4,000 megawatt gas and coal fired electricity generating plant 130 kilometers from the Thai border in the town of Tabolek.

The generating plant would use Finnish technology and machinery, and cables would link it with the electricity system in Thailand, and operate to strict environmental standards. This plant would replace proposals to construct power stations at Hin Krut, Bo Nok and Thap Sakae in Thailand, all of which have been derailed due to intense local opposition. (TNA)


Thailand and Philippines join to beat trade barriers

Thailand’s Agriculture Minister Sora-at Klinpratoom recently held talks with his counterpart in the Philippines to boost regional negotiating power to combat international trade barriers. Speaking after meeting Louis Lorenzo, Sora-at said that the two ministers had discussed the exchange of agricultural technology data and ways in which members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) could cooperate in building up a power base to beat barriers to regional trade.

Noting in the past that different countries in the region had adopted different approaches, Sora-at said that a memorandum of understanding on this issue would be signed during the upcoming Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leadership summit in October. “From now on ASEAN cooperation will take the form of increasing joint efforts to solve this problem,” he said.

The minister also noted that ASEAN agriculture ministries were increasingly adopting top-down human resource management systems, enabling operational level workers to work in accordance with government policies, ensuring that information relating to regional agriculture was no longer scattered and disparate.

Meanwhile, Lorenzo said that the Philippines was interested in studying Thai methods of cultivating rice at high altitudes, and that in the future the two countries would work together in joint marketing exercises, with products from both countries sold together in supermarkets abroad. (TNA)