to other asean countries. on the side of the bank of thailand, we facilitate the ease of doing business through the capital account liberalization master plan so that businesses can benefit from this opportunity. the progress can be observed by both trade with clmv, which has been growing annually with double digits over the past 4 years, and more efficient allocations of capital and resources as seen in an increasing number of thai companies doing outward foreign direct investment. in addition the smes, which account for approximately 95 % of total businesses in thailand, have been playing an essential role in driving the economy and will continue to do so going forward. they are an integral part of the supply chain and one of the key success factors of thailand ’ s previously - mentioned high - potential industries. there are also smes who have the capability to produce high value added products by creating their own innovation such as the seasoning packages you see in asian grocery stores here. another example is ready - to - drink coconuts, a product that combines a coconut in its natural shell with an opener such as one you ’ d find on a soft drink can. it is a recent entrepreneurial product that has outstanding growth in exports since launch. in 2004, the bank of thailand launched the financial master plan which aims to increase efficiency and financial access by promoting competition in the market. since implementation, we have observed the improvement in thailand ’ s financial infrastructure from reduced cost - to - income of commercial banks and particularly from smes ’ greater bis central bankers ’ speeches financial access. the cost of raising funds in thailand has been reduced through the welldeveloped financial market since more players are allowed to offer variety of financial products. moreover, the increasing in competition among commercial banks provides higher incentive for them to serve a wider range of customers, especially smes, who once have limited access to raise funds and relied on self - funding in a less - developed market. in another project to ease smes access to funds, the bank of thailand has set up the smes database to reduce asymmetric information in the market and provide a more favorable business environment. ladies and gentlemen, the bank of thailand pursues the goal of sustainable well - being, and strong economic fundamentals are requisite to achieving this goal. we closely assess the growth, price, and financial stability in order to ensure our mandate. meanwhile, to expand the growth frontier we consider thoroughly in all aspects to develop the financial system as a policy instrument, encouraging business to capture the

imbalances when making monetary policy decisions, represented only a small minority before the crisis. the global financial crisis has prompted a fundamental rethinking of central banks ’ monetary policy conduct. now it is recognized that price stability alone does not guarantee economic and financial stability and that there exists an intricate relationship between monetary policy stance and financial stability. maintaining “ too low for too long ” interest rate policy leads to excessive risk taking that can sink the economy. this risk - taking channel of monetary policy now features prominently in the mainstream economic literature. today, virtually all central banks are taking financial stability considerations seriously in their monetary policy deliberation. talk of risks to financial stability has now been mentioned frequently in several central banks ’ monetary policy statements. the takeaway from this is bis central bankers ’ speeches that once their economies get back to normal, central banks in developed economies will consciously avoid keeping the policy rate too low for too long. financial institutions must therefore prepare for a higher interest rate environment as well as volatility during the transition period. the recent emerging markets turmoil provides a fresh example of the latter, even though the current stage of qe tapering is just the tip of an iceberg of what is coming. let me move on to re - regulation. the pre - crisis mantra was to let deregulated financial markets take care of themselves. alan greenspan, the former fed chairman who pushed to have derivatives remain unregulated, expressed that he was in “ shocked disbelief ” to see what happened. in addition, a number of observers, including nobel prize winning economist joseph stiglitz, believe that the repeal of the glass - steagall act in 1999, which allowed commercial banks to engage in investment banking activities, was among the major factors behind the crisis. by re - regulation, i don ’ t mean the return to tight control by regulators, but rather “ smarter ” regulation that focuses on systemic risks. let me show my point with some examples. as a regulator, i would not be doing my job if i did not talk about basel iii. to avoid going overboard on its massive details, i will highlight just a few of its key features. in a nutshell, there are three parts to basel iii : capital requirement, liquidity risk management, and supervision of global systemically important financial institutions. of the three, the capital part is in the most advanced stage with national implementation started last year in many countries including thailand. it is expected that by 2019, most countries