Thaksinomics - The New New Deal!

Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra deserves the Nobel Prize in economics. He has instituted policies in his nation not seen anywhere in the world since F.D.R. His policies are even much further reaching, thus improving the lives of all in his nation. He deserves the entire world's immediate attention. All IFI's, NGO's, heads of state, politicians, economists, all social/political leaders and people in general should familiarize themselves with his success story in Thailand. It is nothing short of miraculous. It is also complete from the ground up - from poor local communities to the rich major cities. The entire world could be rejuvinated by following Dr. Thaksin's lead. It is also possible - globally!

Keynote Address - Thaksinomics

Our policy does not merely make capital accessible and move it closer to the grassroots, but with capital, we also provide them with options of economic activities. The One Tambon-One Product or OTOP project -- a Tambon is what we call a group of villages or a sub-district -- was also introduced to draw on the local expertise, know-how, skill and innovation. Each tambon will work on the kinds of products it is good at. The government will assist them in the area of marketing throughout the country and around the world. After 2 years, the success of OTOP has been more outstanding than anyone could have anticipated. The OTOP sale in its second year was over 17 billion baht or 420 million US dollars.

And for the local businesses to prosper, I believe in encouraging local entrepreneurial talent. The local SMEs, as a fundamental factor of our economic success, must be promoted. The SMEs? activities represent the majority of the economic activities of the country. The SMEs are a major contribution to the national growth and a major source of employment. For these reasons, I had the SME Promotion Office and the SME Bank set up to promote existing and increasing the number of entrepreneurs in a systematic way with a view to expanding the national productivity base, provide R&D support, and offer tax cuts and investment incentives.

We have employed a multipronged approach of tax incentives for new businesses, rationalization of export procedures, and stimulation of grass-roots demand. Such measures have boosted domestic consumption, decreased over-capacity of production, and enabled our diversified export items to flow to the new sector of global demands. This has been done in such a successful way that has surprised even some of us in the Government! ...Article Continued