Organizer: ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute

Type/Location: Virtual

Description:

Industrial policy, often referred to as “picking winners” or “state intervention,” has experienced a turbulent path. Once credited for enabling the East Asian Miracle, it fell out of favour after the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s. Although industrial policy has resurfaced in the post-COVID era amid intensifying global trade tensions, critics caution against an overemphasis on manufacturing, calling it “a self-defeating delusion” in the modern economy. This webinar revisits key debates surrounding industrial policy and examine its evolution in Thailand, from the Thailand 4.0 initiative to current efforts supporting electric vehicles and semiconductor production. It will explore how Thai industrial policy compares with those of Korea and Taiwan, how the rise of China has reshaped Thailand’s export-oriented model, and whether manufacturing remains relevant to Thailand’s future economy. The discussion will also consider how Thailand should adapt its industrial strategy in response to shifting geopolitical dynamics.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Veerayooth Kanchoochat holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge, UK. He had been an Associate Professor of Political Economy at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), Tokyo, until last year. He co-edited the book Developmental State Building (2019) and published several papers on the Thai political economy and the middle-income trap. From 2025, Veerayooth has been a Deputy Leader of the People’s Party. Currently he has worked as a Parliament’s Budget Committee and Advisor to the Standing Committee on Economic Development.

Registration:

To attend the event online, please register here.