Welcome Remarks by Governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul in the 4th Bank of Thailand Policy Forum on “Asia’s contribution to global growth”

Thursday, 24 July 2014

* * * * * * * Your Excellency, Ambassador Shigekazu Sato, Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, Chairman and Former Governors of the Bank of Thailand, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my great pleasure to welcome Your Excellency and all our distinguished guests to the 4th Bank of Thailand Policy Forum. Today’s event is very special for us as it marks the first event to celebrate the Bank of Thailand 72nd Anniversary on 10 December this year. It is therefore a special honour to welcome Governor Haruhiko Kuroda from the Bank of to be our Keynote speaker. Since the inaugural of BOT Policy Forum in July 2012, the Bank of Thailand has been privileged to welcome the presence of several important international economic leaders, starting with Madame , Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, H.E. Wolfgang Schäuble, Finance Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany, as well as Governor Glenn Stevens of the Reserve Bank of Australia. They all shared with the audience of ’s key stakeholders with their insightful perspectives as regards current economic and financial challenges, global and regional, as well as thoughts on ways forward. For today BOT Policy Forum, it is well-recognized that the role of Asia in the world economy has been increasing significantly and continuously. Against this backdrop, we very much look forward to listening to Governor Kuroda’s view on the topic of “Asia’s contribution to global growth”.

I am confident that today’s knowledge sharing will provide us with a clearer understanding and pave way for effective preparation to meet future challenges. I also hope that this will in turn lead to stronger collaborative partnerships among Asian policymakers and private sectors in making our roles even more meaningful in the global economic community. Finally, I wish to take this opportunity to once again thank our Guest Speaker, Governor Kuroda and all our distinguished guests for being here today and for your valued contributions to the Thai economy and the prosperity of Asia as a whole.

Thank you.