Veerathai Santiprabhob: Opening remarks - Bangkok Sustainable Banking Forum 2019

Opening remarks by Dr Veerathai Santiprabhob, Governor of the Bank of Thailand, at the Bangkok Sustainable Banking Forum 2019, Bangkok, 13 August 2019.

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

Central bank speech  | 
03 September 2019
by Veerathai Santiprabhob
PDF full text
(140kb)
  |  7 pages

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning and welcome to the Bangkok Sustainable Banking Forum 2019. This forum was first started last year to promote sustainability practices in the Thai financial sector and to highlight the potential role of the financial sector in addressing common challenges facing the Thai society, such as income inequality, environmental degradation, excessive household debt, and the persistent problem of corruption. Certainly, addressing the challenges around environmental, social, and governance (ESG) aspects are critical for the sustainability of the Thai economy and to some may seem far beyond financial institutions' core mandates. Nevertheless, as main intermediaries of financial resources, the financial sector can influence how these resources are allocated and, hence, can influence how the economy and society progress over the long-run.