History and Role of NESDC

NESDB… National Planning Agency

On February 15 th, 1950, the administration of Prime Minister Field Marshal Plaek Pibulsongkram
established the National Economic Council (NEC). Its primary mission was to provide the government withopinions and recommendations on national economic issues.

In 1959, Prime Minister Field Marshal Sarit Dhanarajata restructured the Council, and gave it a new name : the Office of the National Economic Development Board (NEDB). In 1961, this office launched the nation’s First Economic Development Plan, the first of its kind, to serve as a central framework for Thailand national development.
In 1972, social development was officially recognized as an essential part of the National Plan. The NEDB therefore became the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB), as it is known today, under the Office of the Prime Minister.
National Economic and Social Development Board

The NESDB comprises 15 distinguished professionals, namely a chairman and 9 members who are highly
qualified experts in the area of economic and social development. There are 5 ex officio members, including the Secretary-General of the Civil Service Commission, the Director of the Bureau of the Budget, the DirectorGeneral of the Fiscal Policy Office, the Governor of the Bank of Thailand and the Secretary-General of the
NESDB, who also serves as a secretary.

Duties and Responsibilities

• To provide opinions and recommendations on national economic and social development to the cabinet.
• To scrutinize the National Economic and Social Development Plan and other proposals before submitting to the cabinet for consideration.
• To provide opinions concerning the economic and social development issues to the Prime Minister as
  requested.
• To set up the coordination mechanism between the NESDB, concerned agencies and state enterprises
  regarding the planning and implementation of development programs and projects.

Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board

Mission

The Office of the NESDB has 3 important missions according to its role as a strategic unit, an intelligence unit and a knowledge organization, with important activities under each mission as follows ;

Mission 1 :
The Strategic Unit is responsible for formulating development strategies at the national level
and other levels, providing recommendations and suggestions to the government, putting policies and strategies of the government into practice and monitoring and evaluating the government policies. Its important tasks include :

• Formulating five-year National Economic and Social Development Plan and several development strategies as well as implementing them.
• Studying, analyzing and providing recommendation concerning economic, social and environment policies to the government, or providing information concerning such issues for the cabinet meeting.
• Analyzing state enterprise budget and structuring the annual state enterprise budget to facilitate appropriate and effective investment.
• Considering and providing opinions on the joint venture between public and private sectors before submitting the projects to the cabinet for an approval.
• Performing as the secretariat of important national committees such as the Cabinet Committee for Economic Policy and Joint Public and Private Consultative Committee.
• Preparing the Report of the Countryûs State of Affairs for submitting to the Prime Minister after appointed by the Royal Decree and acting as the secretariat in formulating the Public Administrative Plan for the new government.
• Being the coordinating agency to promote the sufficiency economy and the brain bank

Mission 2 :
The Intelligence Unit is responsible for analyzing the in-depth national and international data which are relevant to economic and social issues. It acts as a warning center for the government in the areas of strategic planning and national economic and social administration. Its important tasks include :

• Preparing data of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) both quarterly and annually, and formulating economic forecast which takes into account the world and domestic economic conditions as well as formulating policy recommendations concerning macroeconomic management, and supporting the development of Gross Provincial Product (GPP) data.
• Preparing the Social Condition Report, both quarterly and monthly, in order to reflect overall social condition and the changes that have an effect on the uality of life of the people and preparing key data on social issues.
• Developing Thailand National Account data to be in line with international standard.

Mission 3 :
Knowledge Organization aims at searching and developing new knowledge required for national development. The organization is well-equipped
with staffs who are competent in strategic planning, analyzing, and advocating effective national development. The significant tasks are as follows ;

• Creating a research and learning network of the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy. It encourages the implementation of the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy
  in development projects in different sectors through the Research and Development Institute of Sufficiency Economy Philosophy Foundation. This institute has been set up as the main body to cooperate with other development parties to advance such projects.
• Developing development outcome indices. These indices include well-being index which measures outcome of development that perceives people as the center of development, economic strength index which measures the quality of economic development and economic growth, sustainable development index which measures the relationship of economic development, social development, natural resources and environment issues, last but not least, green and happiness society index which combines the key principals of the above 3 indices, and therefore used for the evaluation of the National Development Plan.
• Formulating Knowledge Management Plan and developing knowledge management system in the NESDB in order to increase staff efficiency and facilitate
  the development of knowledge base in the long term.
• Intensively and continuously implementing human resource development through courses related crucial and specific capacities, as well as exchanging knowledge and learning with the World Bank and international organizations. The NESDB also sends the staff to continue further study in Master’s and PhD
  programs and training courses abroad in order to prepare the new personnel and develop knowledge base in the long term.