Japan Advises Thailand To Boost Labour Force

[webfact]

Japan advises Kingdom to boost labour force

By NALIN VIBOONCHART

THE NATION

Thailand should produce about 700,000 skilled labourers to serve the investment influx from Japanese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) after the ongoing revision in the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement (Jtepa).

Hiromasa Yonekura, chairman of Nippon Keidanren, the Japanese business association, said after meeting with the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking (JSCCIB) this week that Japan wanted Thailand to develop skilled labour to serve the increasing demand in the industrial sector.

Yonekura, who is also chairman of Sumitomo Chemical, said even his company had to recruit more people. So this is an important issue for industrial development in Thailand.

Dusit Nontanakorn, chairman of the Board of Trade of Thailand, said he had just come back from Japan and had been told by Japanese investors that Japanese SMEs were considering investing in Thailand. It is expected that those companies will require about 700,000 skilled labourers for their investment. So they have asked Thailand whether it is ready to provide enough workers to serve the demand.

Those Japanese companies will invest in the automotive, electronics and electrical-appliances industries.

"This is the important issue," Dusit said. "I've told Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva that we have to start thinking and taking action in increasing skilled labourers.

"The demand for 700,000 comes from Japanese firms only. How about those from South Korea, Europe and the US? Thus we have to survey the labour needs from those countries so that we can plan in advance to develop the human resources."

He said that if Thailand could not start taking action on this matter and could not provide human resources to serve the needs, Japan had other choices to go to, such as Vietnam.

"If we look into Asean countries, Indonesia is the biggest market in terms of population, whereas Vietnam has good economic growth. If we think about the financial centre, Singapore will be the answer. The country that is going to have a big project is Burma. So, where's Thailand? Our strengths in the past may be weaknesses now. We have to stop fighting each other and think more about how to develop the country," he said.

Pornsilp Patcharintanakul, deputy secretary-general of the Board of Trade, said the JSCCIB had asked Japan to revise the agreement in the Jtepa for some items. The requirements include exporting sugar to Japan, expanding the exporting quota for processed pork and accelerating the import tax reduction for processed chicken to zero.

The JSCCIB asked Keidanren to bring these issues to the Japanese government for consideration.

He said Japan formerly did not allow Thailand to export sugar. For processed pork, the country has a quota to export 1,000 tonnes per year to Japan. Thai producers would like Japan to increase the quota to 12,000 tonnes.

According to the Jtepa, the export tax imposed on processed chicken will be gradually reduced from 5.5 per cent to 3 per cent by the end of 2012, or half a percentage point per year. The tax will be zero in 2022, but Thai exporters would like to bring forward the result. It has asked Japan to impose zero export tax on processed chicken within three years, or 2015 if starting from 2012.

Pornsilp said that according to the Jtepa, both countries could revise the agreement after the fifth year of the agreement. The Jtepa started in 2007, so the agreement can be revised in 2012.

"We expect Keidanren to bring these issues to the consideration of the Japanese government. We don't know whether Japan will revise the agreement as per our request," he said.

-- The Nation 2011-02-19

[Robby nz]

The Japs need more workers in TL......get out there and breed fellas.

Wonder if they are willing to pay skilled labour wages?

Or just the same basic minimum wage.

[asiawatcher]

An increase of 700,000 will not come from within the populace - it will need to be partly filled by importing labour which of course - with present immigration rules will be difficult. As Japan's mandate is for 'skilled' labour that let's out a lot of Issaan farmers et al but there are ways to increase the skill levels by training and that falls on overseer incentives in the trades mentioned. Thai's have the capability and there would be many who could fill the role if retrained - either that or watch Japan consider other options - like China. As Thailand already has the role of "Detroit of the East", the infrastructure etc., Thailand would be very stupid to allow this to walk. Here is the opportunity to gain a lot more input to Thailand's economy - a lot of wages - but will the Govt and others step up and allow it to happen. What a great opportunity - let's see what happens.

[bitterbatter]

Japan is overflowing with skilled workforce. A workforce that is educated and aware of what they're value is, so many are unemployed because Japanese companies want to outsource work to where people still work for a few dollars a day.

[khaowong1]

Japan is overflowing with skilled workforce. A workforce that is educated and aware of what they're value is, so many are unemployed because Japanese companies want to outsource work to where people still work for a few dollars a day.

This is it in a nutshell. cheap labor.. used to be a time when everyone outsourced work to Japan.

[toenail]

??? So why don't the people from the rural areas of Isaan, move to where the jobs are if they want better pay or more financial security? In Europe, back in the 1700's- 1800's many poor Europeans moved to the "New World" to have a better life; after WWII there was a flood of rural America that moved to the cities for better jobs than what was in the country. The JOBS DID NOT COME TO THEM, THEY HAD TO MOVE WHERE THE JOBS WERE.

[jimbeam1]

??? So why don't the people from the rural areas of Isaan, move to where the jobs are if they want better pay or more financial security? In Europe, back in the 1700's- 1800's many poor Europeans moved to the "New World" to have a better life; after WWII there was a flood of rural America that moved to the cities for better jobs than what was in the country. The JOBS DID NOT COME TO THEM, THEY HAD TO MOVE WHERE THE JOBS WERE.

In the UK after the first and second world wars. Many Farm labours left the farms to go to the City, taking up job offers.

Bangkok is full of people from Issan, looking for work, or doing mundane jobs.

If the government really want to help these people, now is the time to show it, by taking note and starting government training centres, to give them the skills required. But will they. I don't think so.

jb1

[canine79]

The Japs need more workers in TL......get out there and breed fellas.

Wonder if they are willing to pay skilled labour wages?

Or just the same basic minimum wage.

Thought TV didn't allow racial slur?

[MaiChai]

Whats a 'skilled labourer'?

[alexth]

Workers? A fair amount. Lazy workers? Lots. Skilled workers? Hmmmm, good luck with that. The education system in Thailand would have to improve and for some reason I don't see that happening in the near future

Edited February 19, 2011 by alexth

[canine79]

What are u guys on about?

No shortage of skilled workers.. They can shoot a pingpong ball ... They Can open beer bottles ... And u don't call that skill? Lol

[canine79]

Oops

Jk

can't edit the bloody thing. Browsing on phone sucks.

[LaoPo]

Japan is overflowing with skilled workforce. A workforce that is educated and aware of what they're value is, so many are unemployed because Japanese companies want to outsource work to where people still work for a few dollars a day.

Japanese unemployment in December 2010 dropped to 4.9% and although that's not a very comfortable number, it's still a lot lower than the average percentage in the EU and US where the unemployment numbers are around 10% with exceptions of 20% in certain parts of both hemispheres and even higher amongst certains groups of young people.

In the Arab countries where the unrest is bubbling the unemployment is even more devastating and up to 75% of the young male workers....

For the time being both Thailand and Japan should feel blessed....for the time being!

LaoPo

[Spee]

In the Arab countries where the unrest is bubbling the unemployment is even more devastating and up to 75% of the young male workers....

And in Arab countries with strict sharia law, female unemployment is essentially 100%, by force of law. How can these countries possibly expect to compete in the global marketplace with some 80-90% of the population being essentially unemployable? Add in the problems of doing business within the sharia banking system and it's not surprising. The only reason these countries have grown at all are the import of skilled and "slave" labor from abroad.

Back to the issue with Japan and Thailand, it reminds me of a very old interview with the old CEO of Sony. (paraphrasing) He was asked a question. "To what do you attribute the success of your company." His response was "good long term planning." The following up question was something to the effect of "How long do you plan for?" His response was something to the effect of "200 years."

So the point is the Japanese government and businesses tend to think in terms of long term strategy over many generations. While not to generalize across all businesses and individuals, the typical Thai foresight doesn't seem to be beyond the end of next week, much less a few years out. Recent developments in the US and other countries aren't much different. Obviously, I'm exaggerating a bit, but I think it serves to make the point.

Do the Thai powerbrokers, policymakers and corporate chief executives actually give any serious thought to what is best for the country in the current generation, much less the next 2-3 generations? It certainly doesn't seem to be so. The foresight and planning doesn't seem to be much beyond the next political crisis.