Prasarn Trairatvorakul: Challenges to central banks in the era of the new globalisation Opening remarks by Dr Prasarn Trairatvorakul, Governor of the Bank of Thailand, at the Bank of Thailand International Symposium 2010 on “Challenges to central banks in the era of the new globalisation”, Bangkok, 15 October 2010. *  *  *  Professors, Fellow Central Bankers, Distinguished Participants, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you to the Bank of Thailand International Symposium 2010 on “Challenges to Central Banks in the Era of the New Globalisation”. This event is the fourth in a series of International Symposiums organized by the Bank of Thailand, which have been a forum for prominent academics, policy makers and market practitioners to meet and discuss current issues related to central banking and monetary policy, especially from an international perspective. As the world begins to recover from the global financial crisis, a new stage of globalisation has emerged and brought along a transformation of the economic and financial landscape. The meeting today will again be an opportunity for us to share views and address key challenges facing central banks during this time of change. I will highlight three of them. First, the global financial crisis has brought to the fore the importance of financial stability as a necessary condition for economic stability. The need to fulfill this objective will forever change the way central banks conduct their policy.

Our economy is the seventh-largest in the world and the region’s growth continues to surpass that of advanced economies. Such progress has enabled and nurtured our own regional champions, many of which have moved ahead to do even more for the ASEAN people. Indeed, ensuring that the gains from ASEAN’s development are equitably shared by all is no small feat. It requires more than just government action. It entails close, continuous and committed partnerships with the private sector. Advancing the ASEAN potential (a) Significance of private sector Public-private partnership is part of the ASEAN DNA. Policymakers acknowledge the private sector’s significant role in driving shared prosperity among ASEAN. This is evident in the way financial institutions; airline companies; telecommunication; retail; and other private players have been expanding their businesses beyond domestic boundaries, creating greater employment opportunities and improving living standards in the region. In the aviation industry, for example, our regional low cost carriers have significantly increased interconnectedness among ASEAN countries. The economic spillovers from this increased connectivity cannot be ignored. By opening up access to Lombok, for example, these low cost carriers have contributed to a surge in tourists, marking the fastest growth of tourist arrivals in Indonesia. This has incentivised the Indonesian government to provide more infrastructure development, including solar power plants, water treatment facilities and roads. This is only one of the many other success stories from our regional home-grown champions. It is my hope that we keep nurturing more, and that their footprints in ASEAN bring even greater benefits to our people.