In today’s world, standards, policies, best practices, and knowledge repositories are crucial for countries seeking to enhance their potential, leading to increased confidence and cooperation on the global stage. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is one of the international organizations playing a key role in setting global standards. Thailand is interested in becoming an OECD member, with the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the main agencies driving the membership process. To achieve full membership, Thailand must follow the accession process, which is an intensive procedure requiring cooperation from all sectors to ensure Thailand’s successful completion.
Why is it Called ‘Mission to the Moon’?
The mission to drive Thailand’s OECD membership is considered a grand goal for the country in joining a global organization, similar to the human mission to land on the moon. Many might think it’s difficult to achieve because joining the OECD requires improvements in various regulatory aspects, along with support from all sectors. It’s a mission that requires considerable effort and time. However, Thailand will certainly be able to achieve the goal of becoming an OECD member.
So far, the NESDC and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as the main responsible agencies, have continuously raised awareness about OECD membership through media interviews, news reports, events, meetings, and video clips. The key point they emphasize is that OECD membership is not solely a matter for the government, but it involves both the private sector and the public, who need to be aware and adapt their business operations and lifestyles to align more with international standards. If all sectors are aware and can adapt to meet international standards, we will be able to achieve the goal of OECD membership, just as humans successfully accomplished the mission of landing on the moon.
Why Join the OECD?
The OECD is an international organization that focuses on policy design and implementation, as well as establishing standards that lead to economic improvement, enhancing people’s well-being, equality, and sustainability, according to its vision “Better Policies for Better Lives”. The OECD adapts its standards to the world’s changing dynamics and context to accommodate future changes.
Most OECD member countries are developed nations, such as countries in Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan and South Korea. Therefore, the OECD is considered a hub of experts and academics in various fields such as trade, investment, taxation, education, green energy, environment, good governance, anti-corruption, or current important global issues like the digital economy and artificial intelligence (AI). Moreover, the OECD is a source of academic information and plays a crucial role in setting international standards. Thailand has already adopted OECD standards in various sectors, such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), Responsible Business Conduct (RBC), fair tax management and trade competition, and the implementation of the OECD-Thailand Country Programme Phases 1-2, which focuses on promoting Thailand’s national reforms.
Currently, there are 8 countries in the process of becoming OECD members, or with the status of Accession Candidate Country, including Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Peru, Romania, Indonesia, and Thailand. From this list, it can be seen that most are developing countries, except for Croatia and Romania, which are developed countries. This aligns with the OECD’s membership expansion policy, which is not limited to developed countries but also open to developing countries from all regions of the world. This is evident from the 2024 OECD Council Statement, which emphasizes that the OECD is ready to be a bridge between developed countries, developing countries, and emerging market economies to strengthen and enhance the organization’s role. This reflects that the OECD is an organization ready to embrace diversity to create significant changes for the new world.
What are the Benefits of Joining the OECD?
1. Benefits for government mechanisms
OECD membership is not merely about adjusting national standards to successfully become a member and ending there. Once becoming an OECD member, Thailand, especially the public sector, must consistently maintain the country’s standards at the same level as the OECD. This is because the OECD has a mechanism called “Peer Review,” which regularly evaluates member countries’ standards in various areas to ensure that member countries maintain the mutually agreed standards. While the OECD has no penalties for standards falling below requirements, it uses “Peer Pressure” by publishing development statistics rankings of member countries instead.
Additionally, the OECD has a distinct working style of providing recommendations on which issues member countries should improve or develop. This will benefit the public sector in more efficient policy management by implementing OECD recommendations. It also helps reduce the use of resources such as personnel, time, and budget in devising policy development approaches, as Thailand can choose to use OECD recommendations that are deemed appropriate for the country’s development context. Even the knowledge gained from participating in activities with OECD member countries can be applied to develop key performance indicators (KPIs) for the public sector in various areas, which will help improve and elevate the efficiency of government mechanisms.
Access to statistical data sources is another issue that greatly benefits the public sector because in today’s world, countries with diverse data or access to various data have an advantage. The OECD is an organization that regularly collects and updates statistical data in many areas and has a quality statistical data management system. Thailand can use this data for analysis to identify strengths and weaknesses, which can then be used to plan policy development in various areas, creating opportunities for the country.
2. Benefits for the Thai economy
Joining the OECD will bring Thailand’s standards up to international levels, creating trust and allowing the Thai economy to grow by attracting more foreign investment. With increased foreign investment, Thailand will have access to larger markets, such as those from OECD member countries, which currently number 38 and accounted for 46% of global GDP in 2021. This will benefit related sectors, including job promotion, technology transfer, and economic expansion.
3. Benefits for Thailand in international forums
OECD membership helps promote a positive image for Thailand, especially regarding international standards. A clear example is that Thailand can more easily negotiate Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) in other cooperation frameworks, such as the Thai-EU FTA, which has high standards as the EU is also an OECD member. Moreover, it increases Thailand’s bargaining power in international forums, making our voice louder and more respected by other countries. Importantly, Thailand will have a leading role in jointly setting international standards, giving the country more rights and voice on the global stage.
How should SMEs Adapt?
Thai entrepreneurs may be concerned that if more foreign companies invest in Thailand, while it brings economic benefits, it may also lead to increased trade competition. They wonder if Thai entrepreneurs will be able to compete. The NESDC is aware of the concerns of entrepreneurs, especially the MSME business group, which accounts for 99% of the Thai business sector. However, in the process of joining the OECD, Thailand can negotiate reservations on issues where Thailand is not ready for liberalization. But these reservations must be consistent with the practices of other member countries, or in other words, the reservations Thailand makes must not be excessive to the point of taking advantage of other member countries.
Previously, the NESDC organized meetings to raise awareness about OECD membership for the private sector, with representatives from the Thai Chamber of Commerce and Board of Trade of Thailand, the Federation of Thai Industries, and the Thai Bankers’ Association sharing the private sector’s perspective on OECD membership. They suggested that the government should have measures to support and assist Thai entrepreneurs. Importantly, these three major organizations are willing to help MSMEs adapt to OECD membership. For example, the Thai Chamber of Commerce has implemented the Big Brother project to allow large private companies to assist smaller ones, with representatives from provincial chambers of commerce and Young Entrepreneur Chamber of Commerce (YEC) ready to advise Thai MSMEs on adaptation. The involvement of the private sector helps ensure that large businesses will not abandon smaller ones, which is a good sign that the private sector is alert and ready to bring Thai entrepreneurs into OECD membership together.
The Path to a Better Quality of Life, Improved Standards, and a Sustainable Future
Thailand’s process of joining the OECD officially began in February 2024 when the Thai government submitted a letter of intent to join the OECD. This marks the starting point of Thailand’s interest in applying for OECD membership. Subsequently, on June 17, 2024, the OECD approved inviting Thailand to enter the accession discussions process. Later, on July 10 of the same year, the OECD issued an Accession Roadmap for Thailand. This Roadmap is considered an important document that specifies the conditions, steps, and details in Thailand’s OECD membership process. After this, Thailand is considered to have officially entered the accession process. The membership process is divided into two important steps in which all sectors will participate and drive the operations together:
- 1. Initial Self-Assessment: In this stage, Thailand, led by the public sector, must evaluate the alignment of domestic laws, policies, and practices with OECD standards to determine the extent of gaps between both parties. Regarding legislation, Thailand must assess which laws or regulations are not yet aligned with OECD Legal Instruments. For policies and practices, Thailand must evaluate how its policies align with OECD best policies and practices. If Thailand’s operations do not align with OECD standards, Thailand must prepare an Action Plan detailing how it will adjust its operations to meet OECD standards. Once Thailand completes the initial self-assessment, it must incorporate it into a document called “Initial Memorandum” for submission to the OECD.
Note that the Action Plan is merely Thailand’s plan to adjust standards to align with the OECD. The OECD Committee assessing Thailand’s membership may or may not use it in issuing recommendations for standard adjustments to Thailand in the next step.
- 2. Technical Reviews with OECD Committees: The 26 OECD Committees assessing Thailand’s membership will use the information from Thailand’s initial self-assessment to plan the technical assessment. They will work with Thai agencies to collect data and conduct in-depth technical assessments through various tools and working methods such as questionnaires, interviews, and workshops. If any issues in Thailand’s operations are not yet consistent with OECD standards, the committees will provide recommendations on how Thailand should improve its standards. This technical assessment has no set timeframe. If Thailand’s operations are still not consistent, adjustments must continue until the committees deem them consistent and Thailand has the ability to maintain those standards indefinitely. Only then will the committees pass the assessment and summarize it as a Formal Opinion to propose to the OECD Council for consideration of Thailand’s full OECD membership.
Finally, the government wants all sectors to recognize the importance of joining the OECD, which will help drive serious structural reforms in Thailand, bringing the country up to international standards and sustainably increasing its competitiveness. Therefore, the NESDC invites everyone to participate with the public sector by cooperating in national reform, improving regulations, and adhering to OECD standards together, so that Thailand can progress towards becoming a developed country.
“Because joining the OECD is not just a matter of foreign affairs or something distant, but OECD is related to the quality of life of every Thai person.”