Industrial sector wants next government to urgently reduce high power bills: survey

The results of the FTI poll on how industrial firms’ owners think about the memorandum of understanding (MoU) of the Move Forward Party-led coalition were announced by Montree Mahaphruekpong, vice FTI president, on Wednesday.

Montree said the CEO survey was carried out after the Move Forward signed an MoU with its seven prospective partners on May 22, laying out the missions of the next government.

Montree said that the industrial firms welcomed the MoU signing, which was unprecedented in Thailand, so the FTI conducted a survey to find out what the manufacturers thought about the plans of the next government.

One important finding was that most business operators wanted the next government to restructure the power generating system that affected the power fee calculation. The next government should find a proper level of power generation so that the cost would not have to be shouldered by the public but the government would also have to ensure stability in electricity supply.

The survey found that industrial manufacturers wanted the next government to develop science and technologies and support research and innovations for creating new opportunities for the country, Montree added.

He said the survey was conducted among 252 CEOs of firms from 45 industrial groups and from 76 provincial industrial councils. The CEOs were asked three questions:

▪︎ What is the most pressing issue in the MoU that the industries want the next government to carry out urgently? Respondents could give multiple answers. The top five answers were:

75.8%: Restructure electricity generation, electricity fee calculation and find out the proper generating capacity to reduce cost and to ensure stability.

71.4%: Tackle corruption by promoting a culture of transparency and by making government agencies’ information transparent

65.9%: Revive the economy by increasing the people’s income and reducing wealth gaps

57.5%: Reform laws related to doing business and daily livelihood

54%: Reform and increase quality of education

▪︎ What issues outside the MoU do the industrial manufacturers want the government to address?

67.9%: Promote the development of science, technologies, research and innovation to create new opportunities for the country

58.7%: Upgrade labour skill to the national agenda

58.7%: Ensure sustainable management of natural resources and water resources

56.7%: Develop and upgrade logistics systems and to set up a multimodal transport system

▪︎ What issues do the industrial operators want the next government to use as mission goals?

72.6%: Reform laws, rules and regulations to make it more convenient to do businesses like in developed countries

52.4%: Reduce the social gap and household debt to no more than 80% of GDP

47.6%: Increase labour productivity and solve labour shortage

45.6%: Increase the ratio of investment by state agencies and reduce unnecessary spending of government agencies.