Competitiveness has emerged as a key issue confronting policymakers in Thailand. The Government's reform program will be extended by explicitly incorporating into the competitiveness framework measures that address the remaining constraints on competitiveness. The three critical areas that could constrain Thailand's medium term competitiveness include: 1) The need to strengthen the knowledge base--addressing the skills gap, and improving quality and coverage of education
mainstreaming information technology
and enhancing science and technological capability. 2) The need to modernize the infrastructure regulatory framework to improve the efficiency and delivery of public services. A modern and efficient physical infrastructure will help to reduce the cost associated with infrastructure bottlenecks faced by Thai firms. 3) The need to further improve the business environment and enhance competition--corporate governance, trade and investment regimes, competition policy--so that scarce labor and capital can be utilized in the most productive sectors. In addition, an appropriate macroeconomic environment, by signaling the right relative prices (domestic interest rates and exchange rates), will enable Thai firms to respond to emerging market trends.