. for example, according to the global competitiveness index in the area of corporate governance based on the latest world economic forum report, we are at 23rd compared to indonesia which is at 57th, the philippines at 100th, and vietnam at 104th. it is the area that we have done quite well and our firms are certainly, compared to 20 years ago, much more professional and transparent in character. in terms of ease of doing business, i am sure many of you heard from the world bank that our ranking has improved steadily. back in 2016, we ranked at 46th in terms of the overall ease of doing business, while the latest ranking, we are up to 21st. page 7 of 11 this is not to say that it is that easy for you to do business already and certainly there are rooms for improvement. one of the important things holding us back is the excessive, cumbersome, and inconsistent regulations issued by different government agencies. i am sure that this is no surprise to you when you have to deal with the agencies ; you go here for one thing, then go to another place, face another regulation, and the two are not consistent. there is a very clear priority for the government to resolve this issue by, despite being almost a cliche, providing the one - stop facilitation service. so that businesses and investors, both foreign and thai, do not have to go through all numerous government agencies each with their own cumbersome and often conflicting laws and regulations. currently, the government ’ s efforts in regulatory guillotine are underway, however, the speed obviously needs to be accelerated, otherwise, it is really hard to improve the business climate in our real ease of doing business. the final reason why thailand remains a great place to do business is that there are some new trends that will help mitigate some of the long - term structural weaknesses in the thai economy which are holding us back. what are some of these? first, automation and our demographics ; automation is coming very strongly in thailand, maybe to some lesser degree in other countries in the region. however, looking forward, the costs of automation would come down and the benefits are clear. with the covid19 that has brought lockdowns, everybody sees the need for automation to avoid the work interruptions and relying less on human workers. this will help mitigate one of the long - term structural weaknesses in thailand of poor demographics. thailand, like japan, is a country that is aging very rapidly as our

prasarn trairatvorakul : outlook for thailand at a time of economic uncertainty speech by dr prasarn trairatvorakul, governor of the bank of thailand, at the thomson reuters forum, bangkok, 21 february 2012. * * * distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to be the keynote speaker at this thomson reuters forum. this is a special opportunity for me to share my views on the “ outlook for thailand at a time of economic uncertainty. ” at the outset, i would like to highlight that the thai economic outlook for 2012 is likely to be strong in terms of projected gdp growth while pressure on inflation should be well - contained. having said that, i know that all of you, especially those in financial markets, are well aware that in today ’ s fast - paced world we cannot be complacent. positive outlooks, such as the one i just described, may change quickly. today, my speech will focus on laying out the challenges, my assessment of the challenges, and our policy options going forward. first, let us turn to the challenges. last year 2011 was a year of regaining poise and balance for monetary policy. one year ago, the global recovery had started to gain traction. capital flows had begun to stabilize and became less uni - directional. the balance of risks had started to shift away from growth to inflation. as a result, the bank of thailand ( bot ), and indeed, the majority of central banks in the region, normalized interest rates throughout most of the year. but that was one year ago. and one year can be a long time. therefore, the need to focus on ensuring macroeconomic stability can never be taken for granted. this year thailand faces challenges from both within and without. on the internal front, the main challenge is the flood – more specifically, how to ensure domestic recovery and restoration after the flood. the extent of the damage inflicted by the flood in the last quarter of 2011 was larger than expected and disrupted agricultural and manufacturing supply - chains in the flooded areas. as a result, the economy grew by 0. 1 percent in 2011. the economy is projected to rebound in 2012, growing by 4. 9 percent, boosted by private and public spending for post - flood restoration. in 2013, economic growth is projected to gather momentum, expanding by 5. 6 percent. the bank of thailand is confident that the economy continues to be supported by strong fundamentals. let me