The cabinet met on July 21, 2020 at the Government House. Some of the resolutions are as follows:
The Cabinet approved in principle the Draft Royal Decree on prorogation of the first legislative ordinary session of the National Assembly, B.E. …, as proposed by the Cabinet Secretariat.
According to Section 121 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand, each year there shall be two ordinary sessions of the National Assembly, each of which shall last 120 days. The day on which the first sitting is held shall be considered the commencement date of the first annual ordinary session, and the commencement date of the second annual ordinary session shall be fixed by the House of Representatives.
In light of the above, the convocation and prorogation dates of the National Assembly are set as follows:
Year/First annual ordinary session (B.E.)/Second annual ordinary session (B.E.)
1 / 22 May 2562 – 18 September 2562 / 1 November 2562 – 28 February 2563
2 / 22 May 2563 – 18 September 2563 / 1 November 2563 – 28 February 2564
3 / 22 May 2564 – 18 September 2564 / 1 November 2564 – 28 February 2565
4 / 22 May 2565 – 18 September 2565 / 1 November 2565 – 28 February 2566
It is, therefore, appropriate for the first annual ordinary session of the National Assembly for B.E. 2563 to be prorogued from September 19, 2020 (2563) onward.
The cabinet acknowledged a proposal made by Ministry of Finance on the Office of Insurance Commission's Performance Report of Insurance System and Development (2019), gist of which is as follows:
1. Total direct premium during the 12 months of 2019 accounts for 854,536 million Baht, a decrease of 0.58% comparing to the same period of the previous year. Overall insurance business growth for 2020 is expected at 0.43%-1.99%, with the estimated premium of 860,863-882,317 million Baht.
2. The report also summarizes implementation achievement under the 3rd Insurance Development Plan (2016-2020) on the following key strategies:
1. Capacity enhancement of insurance industry
a. Enhancing entrepreneur capacity
b. Upgrading standard of insurance operation
c. Protecting insurer's rights and interest, and elevating insurance system's marketing behavior
2. Promotion of insurance-related knowledge and accessibility
a. Enhancing insurance-related knowledge and understanding
b. Promoting insurance product development
c. Promoting accessibility to insurance to accommodate ageing society
d. Expanding channels for insurance accessibility
3. Promotion of competitive environment
a. Promoting competition
b. Developing regulations and procedures related to insurance product approval
c. Promoting linkage with ASEAN’s insurance markets
4. Reinforcement of insurance infrastructure
a. Developing professional insurance personnel
b. Promoting R&D in insurance system
c. Enhancing technological capacity
d. Promoting insurance as risk management tool
e. Enhancing capacity of regulatory agency
The cabinet acknowledged the Government’s measures related to prevention and response against spread of COVID-19, and assistance and remedies provided to the people and business sector, as proposed by Office of the Cabinet Secretariat. It also advised concerned agencies to consider extension and revision of these measures as appropriate, and report to the cabinet again in August 2020. These measures are:
Measures / No. of measures
1. Public health related measure 3
2. Fiscal measure 39
2.1 Income tax-related measures 11
2.2 Excise tax/ VAT/land and building tax- related measures 6
2.3 Duties and fee-related measures 7
2.4 Public utility-related measures 4
2.5 Other fiscal measures to assist the public, farmers, and persons with disabilities 6
2.6 Other fiscal measures to assist business sector and business sector’s employees 5
3. Financial measures 7
4. Labor and migrant labor-related measure 3
5. Other measures 2
Total 54
The cabinet approved for Minister of Commerce to sign an endorsement letter for the negative list of the Republic of the Philippines under ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement, as proposed by BOI.
Republic of the Philippines notified Coordinating Committee on Investment (CCI) under the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA) that it would like to make a revision to its negative list with regard to ‘Printing and Publishing’ and ‘Foreign Investment and Foreign Loans’ for more clarity and transparency. In endorsing the Philippines’ request, Thailand has to submit an endorsement letter to ASEAN Secretary-General to complete the process.
The cabinet approved the draft ASEAN-Japan Economic Resilience Action Plan. Should there be an amendment in parts that are not gist nor against national interest, Ministry of Commerce shall proceed without having to resubmit to the cabinet. Minister of Commerce or a representative is authorized to adopt the document on behalf of Thailand. This is as proposed by Ministry of Commerce.
The draft ASEAN-Japan Economic Resilience Action Plan stipulates concrete actions as a collective effort of ASEAN and Japan to respond to economic challenges brought about by COVID-19 outbreak. The aims of the Action Plan are as follows:
1. To overcome the economic challenges brought about by the COVID-19 outbreak through continued and close collaboration.
2. To make utmost efforts to prevent stagnation of economic activities by ensuring the smooth flow of goods, encouraging the use of digital technology to overcome constraints caused by recent travel restrictions, and to make their best efforts to provide essential goods to the global market as pivotal suppliers in global supply chains.
3. to build resilient supply chains that will enable businesses to achieve a better balance between both risk management and cost competitiveness.
The draft ASEAN-Japan Economic Resilience Action Plan will be adopted at the ASEAN Economic Ministers-Ministry for International Trade and Industry (AEM-MITI) meeting via a videoconference on July 29, 2020.
Source: Cabinet Meeting (Prayut Chan-o-cha) July 21, 2020