Digital, circular economy can earn Thailand $3.4 bln a year extra - World Bank

Tourists visit the Grand Palace in Bangkok September 4, 2014. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

BANGKOK, Feb 22 (Reuters) – Digital and disruptive technologies and development of a circular economy can earn Thailand up to $3.4 billion each year in additional investments, savings and revenue, the World Bank said on Tuesday.

Thailand, a $544 billion economy before the pandemic hit, needs an innovation-led growth model and to address existing foreign investment constraints to create better jobs and become a high-income country, it said in a statement.

Adopting a circular economy, which involves producing, leasing, repairing, upgrading and recycling as much as possible, could generate as much as $1.6 billion of cost savings and additional revenue for the private sector, especially for agriculture, construction, and electronics, the bank said.