The Thai government has seized this opportunity by introducing the Bio-Circular-Green Economy Model (BCG) as our new economic model for sustainable growth, to build back a healthier, greener and more inclusive economy as the pandemic subsides.

Thailand’s BCG capitalizes on the country’s strengths in biological and agriculture diversity whilst employing technology to transform Thailand into a value-based and innovation-driven economy. The BCG policy will improve manufacturing while creating value at all levels of the production and consumption processes wherein everything can be used and nothing goes to waste.

The four strategic areas of the BCG are: (1) food and agriculture; (2) health and wellness; (3) energy and biochemicals; and (4) tourism and creative economy. In doing so, Thailand hopes to achieve comprehensive security in the key areas of food, health, energy, sustainable natural resources and environment.

In food, we aim to create food security to migrate low-value commodities to value-added commodities with product diversification, high-value product differentiation, waste reduction, resource value-added procession and land-use efficiency.

In health, we are looking to technology and capacity upskilling in vaccines, biopharmaceuticals and medical devices.

In energy, we are gearing towards energy security, namely renewable energy and bioenergy sources converted from agricultural commodities.

Lastly, in tourism, we seek sustainable tourism to conserve and rehabilitate the environment. This can be achieved with the help of the creative economy, wellness tourism and ecotourism.

A concrete example of Thailand’s commitment to the BCG is the establishment of the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) as a prime investment hub in Thailand, to connect and pool the resources and advantages of countries in Southeast Asia. The EEC supports industries that correspond with the BCG, such as food for the future, medicine, digital and smart agriculture and biotechnology.

Turning to Indonesia, which aspires to become a high-income country by 2045, the government of Indonesia is also facing challenges like every nation is during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has to refocus its development programs on health and social system reforms, as well as economic recovery.

Like Thailand, Indonesia is seizing this opportunity to reorient its policies towards sustainable recovery that will create a more resilient economy and more equitable development in the post-COVID-19 era.

The Indonesian government has started a circular economy agenda in the narrative of its “Indonesia Vision 2045” and the National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN) 2020-2024, outlining its visions and missions on human capital, infrastructure, bureaucratic reform and economic transformation.

This ambition was reiterated in October 2020 by Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati that, even before the pandemic, Indonesia planned to build a foundation for a green economy. Programs on handling climate change are included in the RPJMN 2020-2024, with a low-carbon development strategy.

Sri Mulyani added that the implementation of green recovery would support the world’s economic transformation. This shows Indonesia’s strong commitment to have the first Green RPJMN, in which low carbon development and climate resilience is stated as one of the national priorities in line with the SDGs.

Indonesia is determined to work on its green economy policy. The Green Growth Program is formulated to promote socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable development by upskilling capacity and assigning green investment under three priorities: sustainable energy, sustainable landscapes and sustainable infrastructure in Special Economic Zones.

Indonesia is much commended for its commitment to adopting a green economy that will help recover its GDP growth and propel economic recovery, while also protecting the environment.

Evidently, there are strong potentials for complementarities on green policies between Indonesia and Thailand.

With its first green RPJMN, the Green Growth Program, its renewable energy policy and the Food Estate Projects, Indonesia is also venturing along the green path for future development. Circular economy opportunities for Indonesia have been identified in five sectors, namely: (1) food and beverage; (2) textiles; (3) construction; (4) wholesale and retail trade; and (5) electrical and electric equipment. These five sectors are complementary to the four strategic areas of Thailand’s BCG.

Furthermore, as the incoming chair of the Group of 20 in 2022 and of ASEAN in 2023, Indonesia will certainly be in a commanding position to push for a green agenda to create a better world after COVID-19. Indonesia’s effort will be fully supported by Thailand, as we share the same commitment towards the BCG.

This was reflected during Thailand’s ASEAN Chairmanship in 2019, when the first ASEAN Leaders’ Statement on Partnership for Sustainability was adopted. Thailand advocates joint efforts to ensure that the world’s natural assets continue to yield resources and environmental services for future generations. This will certainly be included on the agendas when Thailand chairs BIMSTEC in 2021-2022 and assumes the role of APEC Host Economy next year.

Thus, avenues for bilateral dialogue and international cooperation on resilient and sustainability development should be enhanced. Important best practices and expertises could be exchanged and shared between Indonesia and Thailand to attain our mutual goals in resilient and sustainable economic recovery as “partners in green”.

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The writer is ambassador of Thailand to Indonesia.

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