Thailand to pursue new policies to boost, protect digital economy

The government is pursuing new digital policies to handle emerging security threats including the impacts of United States-China rivalry on the economy and technology, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said on Friday.
“We will accelerate policies so that the digital economy makes up 30% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030,” Ms Paetongtarn said in an address at the country’s National Defence College, adding this would also enhance cyber security.
The government is supporting the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to strengthen the agricultural sector and increase exports to China, she added.
Thailand stands to benefit from a potential trade war through re-location of investments from China and more exports to the United States, Commerce Minister Pichai Naripthaphan has said previously.
Global tech companies have also been ramping up investments into Southeast Asia, particularly in Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand, as they vie for a greater presence in the region of 670 million, including a growing young and tech-savvy population.
Thailand has drawn in billions of dollars of investments in the tech sector, including a regional data centre for Microsoft and a US$1 billion investment from Google in a data centre and cloud infrastructure.
The cloud computing unit of Amazon.com has said it would invest $5 billion in Thailand over 15 years.