Country Report: Thailand

Right Here, Right Now

As Thailand is quickly losing price competitiveness with low-cost neighbors Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos, ASEAN’s second-largest economy and its 69 million population have had little choice but to embrace the transformation of the Thai economy. To achieve its goals, Thailand is now largely leaning on its robust healthcare infrastructure.

The country is currently in the midst of its five-year 12th National Economic and Social Development Plan, which commenced in October 2017 with the purpose of achieving secure, prosperous, and sustainable development in the face of future challenges. As part of this strategy, the Thai government has created an “Industry 4.0” policy that aims to cultivate a stronger value-added economy by encouraging greater innovation and R&D initiatives across ten key industries.

The pharma industry is hopeful that it will be part of the solution. “Building an innovation ecosystem is a combination of policy, processes, ministry cooperation, pricing, and much more," notes Kevin Peters, managing director of MSD in Thailand. "As an industry, we must demonstrate the value of innovation in saving and improving lives. Fortunately, we see there is an openness to communication from the health authorities, which will help us in coming together to achieve this common vision.” 

To view the full article on Thailand's healthcare and life sciences markets, produced by Focus Reports and featured in Pharm Exec's October 2019 issue, click 

 (cycle down to page 41).

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