Thai FinTech Association seeks government support to fight competition from foreign players

The Thai FinTech Association has sought the help of the government to enhance and increase its support for local fintech startups and financial institutions and its competitiveness, thus preventing foreign companies from dominating the country’s fintech market, BangkokPost reported.

Korn Chatikavanij, the chairman of the association, expressed his concern during a seminar entitled "The New Era of Digital for Business Solutions", hosted by Brother Commercial Thailand. He mentioned the concern over foreign players controlling the e-payment service market after Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba moved aggressively to increase its presence in Thailand with its partnership with CP All.

“The alliance between the two giants poses critical challenges to Thai fintech companies. It's time for the government to create a level playing field between local and foreign players and prevent monopolies from taking hold through the use of the Trade Competition Act," he stated.

Korn insisted the government to impose a corporate income tax for global technology companies like Facebook and Google that dominates the Thailand’s digital marketing industry. He also urged the country’s banks to collaborate with local fintech startups in order to improve their innovative capacity to compete with international e-payment players.

According to Korn, the government needs to update the country's regulations, so as to support businesses that are tech-based and the development of the Thailand 4.0 initiative. Thailand 4.0 is a new economic model aimed to reshape the country’s economic structure so that they are driven by innovation and technology.

“This will encourage companies to embrace digital technologies to improve their efficiency and increase productivity,” Korn added. “Thailand 4.0 is expected to increase the country’s earnings per person per year from US$6,500 (229,060 baht) to 3,500 over the next 10-15 years.”

He stated that the tech-based state authorities have to quickly adapt to the rapidly changing technological landscape. Also, it has to deploy long-term policies, which helps local fintech companies to stay competitive as well as meet the changing consumer habits.