Thailand is now entering a new phase of the government's economic resurgence strategy, which is to improve productivity with a focus on three main sectors, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday.

The agricultural, industrial and service sectors are the core areas that must increase productivity to sustain the country's growth, the premier said at the opening of Productivity Expo 2009 hosted by the Thailand Productivity Institute.

Policymakers will start this month to formulate economic strategies for improving productivity and for reducing the country's traditional reliance on its natural resources and cheap labour, he said.

"We have set the economic strategies in three phases, with the first as implementation of policies to promote local consumption while curbing impacts from the recession," he said.

"We are now in the second phase, the stage to see government investment in megaprojects to create jobs and earnings.

The third phase is to improve our economic structure with a focus on productivity improvement in all sectors."

The government sees the economy as having three key sectors: the agricultural, industrial and service sectors.

"To keep our position as the world's top food supplier, we need to improve productivity in these key sectors," said Mr Abhisit.

"For instance, farm improvement will focus on irrigation systems and increasing yields through factors such as soil conditions and technologies.

"Better yields would also bring improvements in farm products needed both for food and for making alternative fuels so we can balance resources to serve demand from both sectors."

The industrial sector's competitiveness must be improved through better use of technology and creativity, he said.

The services sector, by increasing its integration of creativity and innovation, should also contribute more to the country's income.

All these strategies would be developed in a way that protects the environment with co-operation from both the public and private sectors, he said.

"Through this, we will be ready to take up whatever opportunities we encounter when the global economy fully recovers," he said.

Phanit Laosirirat, the executive director of the Thailand Productivity Institute, suggested that the government offer more incentives for business operators to invest in further improving their productivity.

"I think better tax support, more efforts to reduce corruption, and consistency in policy implementation by all government officials will promote more productivity investment.

"The country's gross domestic product could improve by 2-3% through these efforts without the need for the government to inject any money," he said.