The Treasury Department is pulling together several agencies to promote the green economy.

Mr. Pornchai Thiravet, Director-General of the Fiscal Policy Office (FPO), revealed that at the academic seminar 'Fiscal GreenPrint: Bridging Policy and Practice', under the topic 'Fiscal GreenPrint: Bridging Policy and Practice', new generation economists of the FPO have pointed out that the concept of 'Carbon Competitiveness' is very important in national development. The FPO has presented fiscal and financial measures that will help push all sectors of the economic system to adapt to environmentally friendly operations. Therefore, in order to push policies into practice to produce tangible results, the FPO, as a policy advisory agency of the Ministry of Finance, The concept of 4Es of Eco-Economic Strategy has been developed: (1) Elevate or upgrading the entire supply chain for a green economy; (2) Encourage or pushing the business sector to adapt and develop innovations for sustainability; (3) Empower or creating an ecosystem to provide the business sector with sufficient human resources and knowledge for the future economy; and (4) Engage or cooperation among all sectors, including the government, the public, and the business sectors, with the goal of enabling Thailand to compete with countries in the region in terms of 'Carbon Competitiveness' by using the advantages of natural resources and diverse ecosystems, including the large economic sector that can be developed as a source of carbon credit generation, in order to maintain the country's long-term competitiveness. Mr. Chaiwat Kovavisarach, Chief Executive Officer of Bangchak Group and President of Bangchak Corporation Public Company Limited (BCP), said that investing in environmentally friendly technologies is something that must be started, but the initial investment cost is high. Therefore, measures are needed to push for the goal to be achieved in a tangible way. The first thing that must be started to push the business sector to change to environmentally friendly businesses is Carbon Accounting to assess the Carbon Footprint of Organization (CFO) a nd Carbon Footprint of Products (CFP) so that each organization is aware of the amount of greenhouse gas emissions they have, so that they can plan for adaptation and transition to green business. Therefore, providing tax benefits will be beneficial in encouraging entrepreneurs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from their economic activities, including energy use related to such economic activities. However, in setting policies to reduce the impact of climate change, the costs incurred must be taken into account and alternatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions must be considered comprehensively. For example, becoming carbon neutral does not mean not using fossil energy, but may include carbon capture, utilization, and storage technologies, etc. Mr. Payon Srivanich, President of Krungthai Bank, emphasized the necessity of having clear policies or measures from the government sector that will help drive Thailand towards a green economy. He provided suggestions for the government sector, such as the low-int erest loan measures that the Chinese government has provided to Chinese commercial banks for them to be further extended to transform Chinese businesses into environmentally friendly businesses, measures to upgrade Thailand's carbon credit market by adjusting carbon credit measurement standards, creating necessary databases for carbon credit assessment and verification, and establishing carbon accounting standards, which will help financial institutions select businesses to lend to in accordance with the criteria and prevent greenwashing, and creating knowledge and experts on carbon credit registration and assessment. With these proposals and cooperation from the government sector, Thailand's financial sector will be upgraded to be in line with environmental principles. Dr. Poonperm Wattanapintu, Regional Sustainability Manager, Bureau Veritas (Thailand) Co., Ltd., mentioned the current obstacles to developing Thailand's carbon credit market: Thailand's carbon credit registration base measures are still diff erent from international standards, making them unavailable for trading in the global market and trading domestically at low prices compared to international prices. In addition, the costs associated with registering carbon credits in Thailand are still high. In addition, Thailand should develop a carbon management system, especially a carbon pricing mechanism, to maintain the country's competitiveness in an era where the Carbon Cross Border Adjustment Mechanism is being introduced as a non-tariff trade barrier. In addition, the infrastructure of the carbon credit market in Thailand should be developed to meet standards and create a mechanism for carbon prices to reflect the true value of carbon credits. For example, carbon credits obtained from forest conservation or reforestation may have more social and environmental benefits than carbon credits obtained from energy conservation. Mr. Thanawat Tungtrakul, Managing Director of Thais Ecoleather Co., Ltd., gave his opinion as a small business operator who ope rates a sustainable business by using used items or waste to create new value without creating new carbon during the production process. He also mentioned the importance and role of financial institutions in helping and promoting small businesses to grow in an environmentally friendly manner, both in terms of providing loans and providing knowledge to business operators. However, in order for small businesses to grow, in addition to assistance from the government, business operators must be committed and develop their potential consistently to accommodate the changing economic environment, where consumers are aware and give importance to choosing or consuming environmentally friendly products. The Director of the Fiscal Policy Office emphasized that in order to put the green economy policy into practice, cooperation from all sectors, including the government, business and public sectors, is required. Furthermore, changing production to be environmentally friendly is considered an investment for the future, a preventive measure against the impacts of climate change on the economic system, and it also helps the Thai economy keep up with changes in the global economy. Source: Thai News Agency