(Sept 3): Thailand needs to more than double the pace of per-capita economic growth to achieve its goal of high-income status by 2037, according to the World Bank, a target it says is within reach if Bangkok pushes through reforms to boost productivity and competitiveness.

Gross domestic product per capita would need to expand on average 5.4% annually, compared with Thailand’s post-pandemic pace of 2.2%, the Washington-based lender said in a report Thursday. Without that acceleration, the country wouldn’t reach high-income status until 2056.

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s government has committed to making Thailand a high-income economy by 2037, part of its push to lift growth and living standards after years of sluggish expansion.

“For Thailand, standing still is not an option,” Anutin said at an event in Bangkok, where the report was released. “The question is not whether we need to change. We must.”

The World Bank’s assessment lays bare the challenge facing an economy that has increasingly lagged faster-growing regional peers. Once one of Asia’s standout performers, Thailand has struggled to regain momentum as an aging population, weak productivity, high household debt and sluggish investment weigh on growth.

The World Bank said Thailand needs to move into higher-value industries, generate more value at home and help companies become more productive and competitive. It identified advanced manufacturing, wellness and sustainable tourism, digital services, agri-food and creative industries as areas where the country has an advantage and could create better-paying jobs.

The lender called for greater adoption of technology, better education and workforce skills, and policies that make it easier for productive businesses to grow. It also urged Thailand to spread economic opportunities beyond its biggest companies and Bangkok by improving schools, increasing social mobility and developing secondary cities into new centres of growth.

“Thailand’s high-income ambition is within reach,” World Bank vice-president for East Asia and Pacific Carlos Felipe Jaramillo said in a statement. “But getting there will require a new phase of higher-value growth.”

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