But, much more can be done and need to be done to foster an ecosystem that promotes the overall sustainability—that will discourage misallocation of resources, limit corruptive practices, and help preserve our environment. Adoption of best practices in sustainability is not just about making positive impacts to our society, but it can also be beneficial to financial institutions in a number of ways. First, it can help ensure long-term sustainability of financial institutions themselves. Growing acceptance of sustainability practices globally has encouraged new standards and practices and raised the expectation of our society. Early adopters of sustainability practices can meet society’s ever-increasing expectation; take lead in setting new industry standards; and make timely and necessary adjustment to their business models. These sustainability practices will help financial institutions mitigate strategic, operational, and reputational risks. Second, financial institutions can better attract and retain a new generation of talents, especially the millennials, who are increasingly more attracted to firms with sustainability and philanthropic practices4. This is no surprise because these young individuals are becoming more concerned of sustainability issues and want to take part in making positive impacts. Therefore, firms with strong sustainability values and practices can attract these talents by offering the additional satisfaction beyond remuneration benefits. Third, adoption of sustainability can help financial institutions gain access to increasing pool of capitals, given the increasing volume of funds and investment products based on sustainability 4  The 2017 Millennial Impact Report. The Millennial Impact Project, 2017. 5/6  criteria.

It is estimated that more than a quarter of assets under management globally are now invested using the Environment, Social, and Governance or ESG principles5. Ladies and gentlemen, It is now up to all of us—financial institutions, policymakers, and leaders—to embrace sustainability and incorporate its guiding principles in our daily lives and business practices. The objective of the Bangkok Sustainable Banking Forum is to raise awareness of the various issues of sustainability and identify gaps within our financial sector. Seeing much enthusiasm from our high-level participants this morning, I am certain we can make positive changes for our future generations. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to be here with us. I would also like to thank the speakers, some of whom have traveled from different parts of the globe, for being here to share to with us their insights and best practices. Let me, once again, urge all of us to think wisely, maintain longterm focus, and take responsible actions now so that in the next decade we would not be standing here asking ourselves again how we have allowed these challenges to get out of hand. Ladies and gentlemen, The Bank of Thailand looks forward to collaborating with all of you on our sustainability journey. Thank you very much for your participation. 5  Bernow, Sara, Klempner, Bryce, Magnin, Clarisse. “From ‘why’ to ‘why not’: Sustainable investing as the new normal.” McKinsey and Company, October 2017. 6/6