Rich and open discussion thrived during the two-day “Collaboration for a Stronger Thailand” workshop in July, co-hosted by the Bank and the Ministry of Finance. The discussions marked the official beginning of interim cooperation to help Thailand cope with the immediate impact of the global slowdown.

For Thai officials still unfamiliar with World Bank operations, this workshop offered a glimpse into what the Bank can do for member countries in times of crisis. In addition to technical and financial support, the Bank’s global experience and networks can help Thai policy-makers learn from other countries what to do or avoid in their own stimulus program.  

Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij's opening remarks set the tone of the meeting. “I don’t think we can underestimate the challenges we face” in implementing the 1.5 trillion baht economic stimulus program over the next three years, he said. “And with the help of the World Bank, we like to find ways to do it efficiently, with greater transparency, and with as little waste or leakage as possible.”

Kingdom Strongly Interested in World Bank Knowledge

A middle-income country with good credit ratings, Thailand had not borrowed from the World Bank in the six years prior to the crisis. Accordingly, Bank operations in this country have been focusing on knowledge-sharing partnerships, with limited trust funds going to a tsunami recovery program, as well as to pilot activities in order to complement the road safety component of the Highways Management Project - the sole World Bank loan since 2003.

The global crisis helped reignite interest in World Bank assistance in many countries around the world, including in Thailand.

But as the workshop title suggests, Thailand is not merely interested in staying above the water. It also wants to be in a position to benefit from the global recovery, whenever that occurs, said Country Director Annette Dixon.

Judging from the tenor of discussions, Thailand is also keen to increase private sector participation in infrastructure development, to secure financial support for its green agenda, and to correct any prior economic policies that have been wasteful and or are considered unsustainable.

As Minister Korn has revealed, the government also wanted World Bank advice on how to ensure the success as well as the transparency of its second economic stimulus program.

During the session on implementing and monitoring the stimulus spending, World Bank procurement experts facilitated discussions among government officials on identifying and overcoming the procurement bottlenecks and establishing internal controls as well as external oversight, among other issues.

Other discussions centered on the government’s farmers income support programs, on managing agriculture insurance schemes, and on the supervision of public financial institutions.

“These are issues not just for Thailand but also for many other countries,” Dixon noted. Thus the workshop presented an opportunity to “consider international experiences, draw lessons, and identify good practices that are applicable to Thailand in each of these areas,” she added.

Twenty-eight World Bank Group staff  from diverse backgrounds attended this workshop, bringing to bear a remarkable store of global and local knowledge.

Some were economists, but they were buoyed by experts in procurement; infrastructure development; finance and private sector development; carbon finance; agriculture and rural development; urban development; global capital market development, and banking and debt management. They were variously based in Bangkok, Hong Kong, and in Washington.

Workshop Brought Key Government Officials Together

Interestingly, some of the richest discussions weren’t between World Bank experts and government officials. Rather, they were between officials of different Thai agencies –each facing a common and challenging task of implementing the stimulus plans.

“Judging from the spirit of the discussions here, small groups of people are going to take this agenda forward,” Dixon noted, after citing Margaret Mead's famous maxim on what happens when thoughtful, committed citizens come together.

“And you should keep working at it. You don’t need the World Bank to do that for you.  We are really just an observer in this exercise.”

There was a lot to take away from all the discussions. The clear message for the World Bank was that, although Thailand faced significant revenue shortfalls as a result of the economic crisis, the country’s more pressing need was World Bank expertise rather than lending.

In his closing remarks, Korn indicated that World Bank knowledge of good international practices in all of the four topics covered by the workshop would be most valuable to the Thai government.

“As a middle-income country, this is the way we, the Kingdom of Thailand, would like the World Bank to help,” he said. “So if you can assign the right level of resources to help us find answers to these important questions, it will help ensure that Thailand is not one of those countries that would need to come to you regularly for loans.”

Another key message was that these joint effort must continue. The World Bank-Thailand dialogue will continue through further meetings in Bangkok, the minister said.

“We asked the World Bank to join this dialogue because we were struggling among ourselves to find the answers,” Korn said. “We haven’t found all the answers yet, but the most important part of the process is to identify the problems. For me that’s an achievement in itself.”