While striving for economic growth, we must not forget that inclusive growth is a prerequisite for sustainable development. I could not agree more with the United Nations’ 2030 agenda for sustainable development that “no one should be left behind”6. Thus, various measures to promote financial inclusion have been implemented and many more are in the pipeline, to ensure that everyone has access to financial services at fair prices. More importantly, empowering people with financial literacy and financial planning capability is an important element of inclusive growth. Ladies and gentlemen, Sustainable economic growth requires concerted effort from all parties involved. Initiatives from the banking sector alone will not be sufficient. The capital market and exchange can and should play an important role. I am very pleased to see that the agenda of this year’s WFE conference is well in line with the aforementioned three imperatives. It is encouraging that the exchange industry is working together to find meaningful ways to boost productivity through fostering growth and embracing new technology; build immunity from mitigating emerging risks and building resilience; and promote inclusivity via increasing retail investor participation. WFE has shown, once again, its commitment to support the development of fair and efficient markets, embracing the role of exchanges to facilitate the efficient allocation of resources and thus promote the real economy and the well-being of the people at large. Ladies and Gentlemen, Our world is rapidly changing.

Within ASEAN: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand, or the CLMVT subregion, is going through substantial infrastructure transformation and connectivity enhancement. These public infrastructure investments will certainly crowd in private investments, catalyzing further growth and development. The strategic location of Thailand and the tremendous demand for financing in ASEAN, especially the CLMVT sub-region, present large opportunities for our capital market for a number of reasons. Thailand has strong trade relations and large-scale direct investments in ASEAN countries. Thailand’s capital market infrastructure is ready to facilitate regional investment and growth prospects. Our capital market serves as a promising connector for global investors and regional financing demands. Ladies and Gentlemen, With all these promising prospects, however, Thailand, ASEAN, and the rest of the world face common challenges. We are going through a challenging time in the global economy and geo-political environment. In the current stage of gradual economic recovery, policy uncertainties, excess global liquidity, and technology disruption will all contribute to an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environment, or the VUCA world in short. Let me elaborate on some of the challenges we are facing. The global economy has observed prolonged periods of low-growth and low-yield conditions. The unconventional monetary policy measures undertaken to stimulate economic recovery in advanced economies resulted in huge excess global liquidity that has spilled over to other economies. The growing search-for-yield behaviour induce under-pricing of risks and volatilities in the global financial system, which could lead to financial fragility in the long term.