##fast in our mission to be the voice of conscience and moderation. through these repeated messages, the banking system and the property sectors, through their own reevaluation of risks and returns, have put on their own brakes and are now proceeding more cautiously. the economy overall is also benefiting from the slower pace of activities which were they to continue, would risk the build - up of imbalances in the property sector or household balance sheet. connecting thailand to the new investment frontier to enable thailand to enjoy the benefits from the new investment frontier requires the continued pursuit of sound macroeconomic and financial policies. it also requires improvement on the supply side, ie the investment in infrastructure, education and innovation to raise the competitiveness of the country. this is a forward looking chapter that is unfolding. there is need for deeper collaboration between the public and the private sectors to position thailand as an anchor or a hub for the region. strategies for the private sector to ensure a durable growth strategy can best be summarized in terms of three moves ; move up, move out and move in. 1. let me elaborate further. “ move up ” is a reminder for our firms and enterprises to raise their productivity to support the competitiveness of the thai economy and in preparation for the upcoming economic integration. moving up the value chain will enable us to differentiate our products, enhance its value, and to enable us to command the margins for our trade. competing through cheap prices is no longer a viable and sustainable model, both for the firms themselves and for the resource - constraint economy. our labour force is in much need of productivity upgrades through relevant education, training and apprenticeship. although these are long drawn processes, the rewards and returns for the economy is more durable. increasingly, we are seeing large thai corporates working in close cooperation with the education bodies, in the recruitment and training, to ensure the necessary and relevant supply of skills for their businesses. bis central bankers ’ speeches 2. the next strategy is “ move out ” beyond the boundaries and the comfort of one ’ s own home market. thai corporates can no longer wait for the transfer of knowledge and technology through fdi. they need to venture abroad to secure the resources, know how, franchise value or distribution channels. recognizing this, the bank of thailand has gradually relaxed capital flows regulations, initially on outward direct investment and more recently on portfolio investments for accredited investors. we plan to continue to broaden the scopes of investment with freer mobility for thai residents in investing

the statutes of these two national central banks. with regard to greece it concludes that : • the statute of the bank of greece has been adapted and, on the basic assumption that the new statute will be ratified by parliament and will enter into force on time and that obsolete provisions of a law dating back to 1997 ( law 2548 / 1997 ) will be repealed, there will be no remaining imperfections in the statute of the bank of greece relating to the requirements of the treaty and the statute of the escb for the full legal integration of the bank of greece into the eurosystem. • the ecb also takes note that other legislation will be adapted by means of a law introducing the euro. with regard to sweden, the conclusions of the emi ’ s 1998 convergence report remain unchanged. swedish legislation, and in particular the statute of sveriges riksbank, does not provide for the bank ’ s legal integration into the eurosystem and is not, therefore, compatible with the treaty and the statute of the escb. as far as other legislation is concerned, the ecb notes that legislation on access to public documents and the law on secrecy need to be reviewed in the light of the confidentiality regime set out in article 38 of the statute of the escb. i should now be happy to answer any questions you may have with regard to the ecb ’ s convergence assessment of greece and sweden.