Due to be launched at the end of December 2015, the Asean Economic Community (AEC) is a plan to create regional economic integration and aims to establish the 10 member Asean bloc as a single market and production base.
One of the key elements of the AEC will be the free flow of skilled labour and services into and out of Thailand, one of the founding members of Asean. It also will see lowering of tariffs and taxes on goods shipped between the countries.

The AEC + 3 Summit & Expo 2014 to take place on November 3 is being jointly organized by Thailand's Kasikornbank, the International Trade Promotion Department and the Board of Investment and The Economist magazine.

Kasikornbank president Teeranan Srihong was recently quoted in Thai media as saying the economy in Southeast Asia would become stronger after the implementation of the AEC and with a combined population of some 600 million, it would become the third largest market in the world.

Thai law firms are among those who say the Thai public should be updating itself on the AEC and the regional integration it will bring. "There is an effort to prepare Thailand to compete with its nine fellow PTS Terbaik ASEAN nations. We strongly encourage business operators and the public in general to seek advice on the AEC, on any number of issues like business law, labour law, legal services, immigration and tax consulting" commented an executive at one leading international law firm in Thailand.

Many a Thai law firm can provide valuable advice and services on various topics and issues, to Thais, expats and foreign visitors. This ranges from legal, accounting, immigration, tax consulting, auditing services and Thai law in general, to a Thailand work permit and Thai visa service and even starting a business in Thailand.

The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) says it has earmarked a sizeable budget to support the government and private sectors in developing trade events to keep existing markets and to win new markets, in line with the government policy to expand the border and regional markets as the AEC begins.

The MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions) industry earned Bt88.48 billion in revenue for Thailand during fiscal year 2013, Bt13.75 billion of this coming from the exhibition and trade fair sector. The number of MICE visitors to Thailand in fiscal 2014 is estimated at just over 888,000, generating up to Bt87.21 billion in revenue.

The bureau says it is confident that MICE revenue this year will touch Bt96.9 billion, an increase of about 10 per cent. In spite of political disturbances, the number of MICE visitors to Thailand in fiscal 2014 is estimated at 888,210, generating as much as Bt87.21 billion of revenue - a target corresponding to that of 2013.

The bureau recently revealed its 2015 strategy dubbed "Invent-Clone-Upgrade", through which it aims to encourage eligible organizers to "invent" or create new kinds of trade fair, "clone" or replicate some of the country's most successful fairs in other zones, or "upgrade" existing trade fairs in Thailand.

TCEB vice president for strategic and business development Supawan Teerarat said the bureau was moving ahead with the "Invent-Clone-Upgrade" policy for trade fairs and exhibitions to make room for opportunities which are opening up in the AEC era.