By Danai Chanchaochai
In less than three short years the ASEAN 2015 will become a reality, bringing with it enormous new opportunities for Thai companies to expand in the region and exploit the unprecedented new freedoms that the 10-country ASEAN Economic Community will offer.
Bringing with it the free-flow of goods, services, investment, capital and labour skills, ASEAN 2015 is also challenging all Thai businesses, from modest SMEs to huge conglomerates, to prepare for the dawn of an entirely new age of trade and interaction with our neighbours.
With 10 countries, 10 distinct and proud cultures, 10 principal languages and a myriad of different dialects, different religions, diverse ethnic origins and vastly diverging economic models, ASEAN is unique in the world. And, to top it all, the ASEAN media landscape is more diverse and robust than virtually anywhere else on the planet.
The key for Thai businesses to hit the ground running with ASEAN 2015 is preparation and one of the most important areas of this preparation is communicating with all stakeholders in a transparent, inclusive and empowering manner. Learning to navigate the new media landscape is another pressing issue.
Privately, many even senior business executives in Thailand are concerned that the country might not be ready for the radical changes ASEAN 2015 will bring, but many are being proactive in preparing for the new era of trade.
For public relations and marketing communications professionals ASEAN 2015 offers a unique opportunity to train business leaders to communicate and manage the coming changes. By offering executives bespoke programmes to communicate with staff, shareholders, customers and the authorities, professional communicators are at the forefront of the new age for ASEAN.
It is our duty to help prepare each client to cope with the changes and to educate all stakeholders as to the benefits and challenges that exist.
English will be the lingua franca of ASEAN 2015 and this in itself is a challenge. While all Thais learn English at school and many study the language further at university, these skills need to be enhanced considerably to ensure the competitiveness of the Thai marketplace and workplace.
We have some of the most highly-trained professionals in the region in disciplines from engineering to finance, medicine to the environment. Thai professionals are in great demand for their skills and work ethic all over the world, and we have to be aware that the free-flow of skilled labour and professionals will put a strain on Thai business, and it is this challenge that has to be addressed immediately.
Communicating change in the era of social media requires extremely powerful communications policies and programmes, and professional communicators need to be ahead of the curve to inculcate a sense of urgency among their clients.
On the most basic level, awareness of what ASEAN 2015 means to companies, individuals and society as a whole has to be placed at the very top of the corporate agenda.
With our partners across ASEAN we are engaged in developing communications programmes and sharing our expertise in borderless communications. For decades Thailand’s leading public relations and marketing communications agencies have had an ASEAN footprint, extending campaigns across our borders to all corners of the region and beyond using a network of trusted partners, either affiliated firms or wholly-owned offices.
By combining international knowledge and flair with firmly established local and regional PR and marketing practitioners as partners, Thai companies can transcend the challenges of ASEAN 2015 and be at the leading edge of ASEAN 2015, bringing new prosperity to Thailand and its people and helping built ASEAN into a formidable trading block that will be the envy of all others in the world.
Danai Chanchaochai is the Chief Executive Officer of DC Consultants and Marketing Communications Co., Ltd
ที่มา : http://www.dcconsultants.co.th/site/news/2012-05-31(2).html
