Veerathai Santiprabhob: The Thai economy - the current state and the way forward

Speech by Dr Veerathai Santiprabhob, Governor of the Bank of Thailand, at the Japanese Chamber of Commerce (JCC) Thailand Dinner Talk, Bangkok, 13 March 2017.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Mr. Shingo Sato, President of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce,

Members of the JCC Board, JCC members,

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

A very good evening to you,

First of all, I would like to thank the Japanese Chamber of Commerce for inviting me again to share with you my thoughts on the prospect of the Thai economy. Last year, I truly enjoyed the exchange of views, ideas, and information with all of you and certainly hoped many of you did so too.

With more than 5,000 Japanese firms actively operating in Thailand across various industries, Japan is certainlyone of Thailand's most important business partners in both the real and the financial sectors. Indeed, as Thailand is trying to move towards more innovative and high value-added industries, it is encouraging to see Japan continuing to be at the top among countries that applied for privileges under the new BOI investment promotion schemein 2016. This would not happen if Japanese professionals already on the ground like yourselves did not have strong confidence in the long-term prospect of the Thai economy.