##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

overseas. the bot is also working closely with the ministry of finance and other agencies on appropriate tax incentives to facilitate the setting up of treasury center to enable large corporate to conduct in house financial transactions more efficiently and with lower transaction costs. with the opening up of the new investment frontier, this is probably the most exciting times for thai corporates to invest abroad to secure resources both raw material and know how, expanding customer base, acquiring distribution channels, and broadening markets. 3. the last area of “ move in ”, aims to create a more attractive business environment for foreigners to turn to thailand as an important spring board for investment in the new frontier markets. thailand has a geographical location advantage to become an investment hub for the asean economic community, particularly the new frontier markets. to become a magnet for the region, thailand needs to maintain its ranking in the ease of doing businesses in such areas of rules of law, governance and strong regulatory frameworks. the thai capital market has also worked hard to promote its role as the funding centre for new frontier markets. recently the government of the lao pdr successfully issued thai baht - denominated bonds amounting to thb 1, 500 million to finance its investment projects. the quota have also been doubled to thb 3, 000 million for next year. i am confident that the subsequent sessions in this two - day forum will offer you a clear picture on the opportunities and prospects this region has to offer. while the private sector works hard to “ move up ”, “ move out ” and “ move in ”, the focus of the public sector is on infrastructure, both physical and intangible, to raise the competitiveness of the economy, elevate its workforce capability and enhance its return on capital. recognizing the short lived, though timely, nature of consumption - led stimulus, the government is embarking on a major infrastructure investments in logistics, communication, water management and transportation. a strong and efficient logistic system will significantly help reduce transportation and logistic costs which are major impediments to our longer term growth. these projects will help unlock the bottleneck and raise overall competitiveness as well as crowd in private investments. infrastructural projects will also strengthen thailand ’ s position as a hub for our greater mekong sub - region ( gms ) neighbors, and is expected to accelerate the integration of these economies as we approach the 2015 asean economic community. projects such as the north - south and east - west corridors will further