Strengthening National Competitiveness through Law Reform

Abstract

Evolution of world trade produces immense effect to legal system of all countries. In the old days when world trade was subjected to protectionism, legal mechanism of all countries leaned upon State close control system via State permission or licensing. The State control system however came up with red tape, duplication of works and corruptions. During the path to liberalization of world trade in 1980s, deregulation and self-regulation were fashionable regime of legislation in OECD countries with a view to reduce those problems and to enhance their competitiveness in global market. Nevertheless, many crises broken during 1990s incited fear of the policy makers in several jurisdictions on self-regulation in some sectors and close State control had been brought back into action once but limited to some sensitive sectors. During the grate expansion of free trade in 2000s, OECD countries had led better regulation policy into their legislative processes in order to reduce unnecessary compliance costs produced by legislations and born by both private and public sectors. When those costs have plunged, the national competitiveness of all OECD members goes up high. Thailand in contrast still confines her legislative concept upon State control system in almost all activities in regardless of new paradigm of world trade. That is why this country is unable to escape from the middle income trap.