Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva has put information technology at the forefront of the party's policies, with plans for ICT centers for each village and an ICT fund for businesses two of the proposed projects.
Speaking recently at the ICT SME Summit 2007, Abhisit said human resource development was also a top priority and the party would put more focus on ICT education initiatives.
The so-called digital divide must be tackled, the leader said, pointing out that the Democrats would focus on villages rather than the urban elite. ''The target should be the group who are farthest behind where they should be, so for us the villagers should have access to ICT,'' he said.
Abhisit said that if the Democrat Party was elected it would promote investment in infrastructure and logistics.
Though the number of fixed telephone lines and mobile phones has increased, it is still too low, he said, adding that the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) had to move forward and promote fair competition.
''Personally, I agree to merge the NTC and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) because the technologies of telecommunications and broadcasting cannot be separated,'' he said.
He noted that Thailand was not competitive when it came to logistics because of high costs. The government needs to invest in transportation and set up e-logistics that can link to e-government services.
Public sector reform did not mean changing ministries, but rather changing the way of working, he said, noting that the government must be a catalyst for ICT utilization.
''What I would like to do is to reduce the burden on the private sector by having a single window of contact [for government services],'' the party leader said.
He added that ICT could help SMEs become more competitive, but there needed to be more incentives. The government should provide tax reductions on ICT or provide consultation services for ICT.
The government could also help the private sector to access ICT funding, perhaps not directly but by offering guarantees, he noted.
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