Industry players need to step up to next level to enhance consumer experience The Project Greenback initiative in Sabah will lay a strong foundation for industry players to take the digitalization agenda to the next level. We must remember that disruptive technologies can radically change the way things are done. The old ways may not work anymore. Consumers are increasingly looking for convenience, speed, and low cost remittance services. Most importantly, they are looking for service providers they can trust. Competition is getting more intense. To illustrate this, let me share with you a CNN article on Amazon Go. Amazon Go is the future of retail shopping. You can walk into the convenience store, grab what you need, and you will receive a message that your credit card is charged for your purchase. The question is, what will be the future of the remittance sector? For the industry players, y o u can re-shape the remittance landscape. Use technology to eliminate the major pain points in remittance, to better understand consumer behavior and needs, and to offer consumers a positive remittance experience from the start. Within the migrant communities, words travel fast. We know that word-of-mouth is the most effective form of marketing. Although I believe that the brick-and-mortar stores are here to stay with digitalization, the savings incurred from not having to pay for overheads can translate to lower remittance costs for consumers. Ultimately, when there is greater use of authorised remittance channels, we can reduce remittances that are transferred through illegal operators.

Today, more than half of the Thai labour force is in the non-agricultural sector (including services), which is more averse to changes in global competition for trade and investment. Moreover, to maintain competitiveness, our economy needs the labour force that possesses higher and more flexible skill sets to move up the valued added chain of production and trade. In reality, Thailand, just like other countries, has weakness in the mismatch of skills produced through formal schooling from those which firms find useful. Government policies need to address this weakness quickly, by finding ways to align formal education with training through vocational schools and apprenticeship programs organized by private businesses. Key questions will be on designing appropriate incentive structures for players in the education and business sectors, while being mindful of social safety net considerations when businesses close. This is especially important because the agricultural sector now accounts for about 10 percent of the overall economy and cannot provide social-safety support for the non-agricultural sector should a downturn hit. In addition to government policies, investors and firms can play their parts in helping to improve labour skill and quality development. This can be achieved through building more experience in the workplace by investing in the best technology and capacity to use that technology efficiently. Importantly, we also need to focus on the quality of investment that will help build skills and enhance production techniques that adds higher values and saves costs. Ladies and Gentlemen, To close, let me highlight another important underlying strength of the Thai economy.