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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 CHIANG MAI 000018 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS, EEB/CIP, EEB/CBA STATE PASS TO USTR FOR BWEISEL, BKLEIN, JMCHALE STATE PASS TO USTDA COMMERCE FOR EAP/MAC/OKSA FOR JKELLY TREASURY FOR OASIA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON, ETRD, EINV, EINT, KIPR, PREL, TH SUBJECT: "CREATIVE THAILAND" -- STRENGTHENING THE IT SECTOR AND CREATING U.S. BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES CHIANG MAI 00000018 001.2 OF 003 ----------- Summary ----------- 1. (SBU) In a February 18 meeting in Chiang Mai, the Ambassador gathered executives from U.S. information technology (IT) firms and officials from Thai government and public agencies for an informal discussion on opportunities and challenges for U.S. IT firms in Thailand. All of the firms clearly expressed interest in helping Thailand succeed on its path toward building a knowledge-based, creative economy. On human resources, the business leaders praised the breadth of the country's IT talent, but urged the RTG to establish a uniform set of IT skill standards and a central certification process for applying it. They also called for the national education system to more closely integrate IT skills with business process management. On infrastructure, the U.S. firms appealed for equal access to, and fair/transparent pricing for, fixed and mobile telecoms assets controlled by various state-owned entities. On intellectual property rights (IPR), the business executives called for Thailand to adopt a strong data protection regime. On RTG support for SMEs, they appealed for easier access to credit and more liberal regulations for hiring foreign talent. 2. (SBU) Looking ahead, the participants made the following recommendations aimed at strengthening Thailand's IT sector and expanding opportunities for U.S. firms to contribute: -- Thailand should align its IT curricula more closely with business process applications and the country's "Creative Economy" push. -- The business, government and academic sectors should collaborate more closely in preparing Thai IT students for the job market. (Note: the Consulate and Embassy are planning a follow-on program in Chiang Mai that would introduce key players to a U.S. expert on university consortiums in the IT field). -- Thailand can facilitate its movement to a knowledge-based economy by freeing up its fixed and mobile telecom assets via fair and transparent pricing . -- The RTG should participate in APEC's data privacy working group as a means to strengthen its draft data protection legislation. End Summary. --------------------------------------------- ------- Ambassador Huddles with IT Stakeholders --------------------------------------------- ------- 3. (SBU) In a sidebar meeting during the recent Consulate-hosted conference on "Northern Thailand's Creative Economy: Opportunities and Challenges in the IT Sector" (septel), Ambassador met with a senior Ministry of Commerce advisor, the Chairman of the Board of Thailand's Software Industry Promotion Agency (SIPA), and the CEO of Thai Telephone and Telecommunications (TT&T), a public fixed-line telephone company and international internet gateway operator. The meeting also included executives from U.S. IT firms Microsoft, IBM, Oracle and SAS Software, as well as three members of the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Committee, plus a representative of the Business Software Alliance (BSA) Asia office. Participants discussed opportunities and challenges for U.S. IT businesses in Thailand. --------------------------------------------- -------------- -------------- IT and Human Resources: Business, Government, Academia Need to Collaborate --------------------------------------------- -------------- -------------- 4. (SBU) The U.S. IT firms and AMCHAM members emphasized the importance of greater collaboration among business, government, and academia in preparing Thai IT students for the IT job market. They noted that despite Thailand's abundant IT human resources talent, the country lacks a uniform set of IT skill standards and certification. The lack of a knowledge certification process that complies with international IT standards makes it difficult for potential investors to assess the qualifications of the available labor pool. Useful models CHIANG MAI 00000018 002.2 OF 003 already exist in Singapore and Australia, which Thailand should emulate. The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology needs to define national IT skill standards, and the Ministry of Education needs to apply them - this is important for improving the quality and productivity of Thailand's IT workforce. The SIPA Chairman replied that SIPA has signed an MOU with the Ministry of Education to support the development of applied IT skills, as well as an IT/business skills incubation project with the Software Park Thailand agency. 5. (SBU) IBM-Thailand's Business Manager noted her work with the Ministry of Education to introduce a business management element into computer science curricula, in order to move away from Thailand's current "silo approach" to one that integrates IT skills with business process management. She urged Chiang Mai's seven universities to collaborate in this regard, and to coordinate rather than compete in their development of IT-related specialties. 6. (SBU) Oracle-Thailand's Business Development Director noted his company's academic initiative, which includes working with a cluster of five universities in northern Thailand. He cited two key problems associated with the need to develop an IT certification process: -- Database. Thailand lacks a central mechanism to collate data for sharing with potential investors on who is certified in what IT skills. -- Budget. Individuals often lack the several hundred dollars needed to take a certification exam. 7. (U) The participants concluded that the need is urgent for Thailand to align its IT curricula more closely with the business world and the country's "Creative Economy" push. Universities and IT firms should work to develop more work cooperative programs for students. In northern Thailand, the public and private sectors should make an effort to work collaboratively with Chiang Mai's seven universities as group (rather than individually) on the issues of applied learning and knowledge certification. --------------------------------------------- -------------- ------------- Infrastructure: Unlock the Door to Fixed and Mobile Assets --------------------------------------------- -------------- ------------- 8. (SBU) AMCHAM members stressed that for Thailand to broaden its agriculture and manufacturing base into a more knowledge-based economy, it must improve its telecommunications infrastructure. This includes not only breaking the stalemate in the rollout of third generation (3G) telecommunications services (see Bangkok 248), but also unlocking the door to mobile and fixed assets, including land lines as well as underutilized fiber optic cables controlled by various state-owned entities. AMCHAM called for equal access to such assets for private and foreign companies of all sizes through fair and transparent pricing. This would increase international broadband penetration rates, boost access and speed as well as reduce prices, which in turn would facilitate Thailand's movement to a knowledge-based economy. The CEO of TT&T, one of seven international internet gateway operators in Thailand and the operator of the country's provincial fixed-line telephone network, expressed support for AMCHAM's push, saying it was time for Thai authorities to stop their in-fighting on these issues and get them solved. --------------------------------------------- -------------- ----------------- IPR: Concern Over Open Source Software and Data Protection --------------------------------------------- -------------- ----------------- 9. (SBU) Microsoft-Thailand's Corporate Affairs Director identified software copyrights as a big issue. On the one hand, he praised the Thai government (RTG) for strengthening its IPR enforcement and education efforts, and said Microsoft was "very pleased" that Thailand's software piracy rate has decreased by two percent a year since 2006. On the other hand, he expressed concern over the RTG's Creative Economy policy of promoting the "open source" software model over the "commercial source" model as a means to curb piracy. (Note: this is an issue for IT CHIANG MAI 00000018 003.2 OF 003 companies worldwide, and not unique to Thailand). 10. (SBU) The Business Software Alliance (BSA) Director for Software Policy-Asia also urged the RTG not to favor open source over commercial source. He argued that (1) the open source model has been shown to have an insignificant impact on reducing software piracy; and (2) by focusing on an open source policy, the RTG signals the market to stunt the development of commercial source software, which in turn undermines Thailand's ability to fully service market needs. 11. (SBU) The BSA rep also emphasized the importance of having a strong data protection regime that is aligned with the international regime. He said Thailand's current low global ranking in legal/regulatory environment is a disincentive to foreign investors. Passage of a date protection law would improve the country's standing. While recent efforts to introduce such a bill in Parliament are encouraging, the current draft needs improvement. The BSA rep recommended the RTG participate in APEC's data privacy working group in order to learn more about international best practices and develop its draft legislation accordingly - a path the Philippines recently followed with good results. ----------------------------------- IT SMEs Need More Support ----------------------------------- 12. (SBU) AMCHAM members noted the role of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as important drivers in knowledge-based economies. In Thailand, they argued, SMEs do not get enough support from the government. They cited two problem areas: -- Access to credit. Thai banks may accept only hard assets as loan collateral, and do not allow contracts with recognized multinational companies to be used as collateral. This emphasis on land ownership and other hard assets works against IT-sector investors who often do not bring hard infrastructure with them. -- Free flow of human capital. Thai labor and immigration laws make it difficult to hire foreign talent. For this, work permit and visa regulations favor big companies with big investments and large hard assets such as heavy equipment. This works against SMEs in the IT services sector. AMCHAM argued that liberalizing the laws to ease hiring of foreign IT talent would serve as a magnet to attract follow-on foreign investment, as well as an expert workforce to support a knowledge-based economy. --------------------------------------------- -------------- ----------------- Unlimited Liability Is Barrier to Government Service Contracts --------------------------------------------- -------------- ----------------- 13. (SBU) IBM-Thailand, which scheduled the grand opening of its new Chiang Mai office (its first outside of Bangkok) to coincide with the eve of the Consulate's Creative Economy IT Conference, expressed concern over obstacles for multinational companies in securing government contracts for IT services. The problem is that RTG practice is for the service-provider contractor to bear unlimited liability. This long-standing issue is a deal-breaker for most IT service providers, thus limiting their dealings with RTG entities to hardware and software procurements. But Thailand's Creative Economy campaign will require development of services and not just sales if it is to succeed. SIPA's Chairman noted that smaller Thai IT firms voice the same concern, and he agreed on the need to open the government's IT services process to foreign firms as well as local ones. MORROW