, and by 2035 we will be the first developing country to become a hyperaged society by the definition of the world health organization — meaning 20 percent of the population will be over the age of 65. this change will have implications on at least two fronts, both very important to the business sector : labor force, and consumer spending. impacts on labor force let me first start with implications on the labor force. the thai labor force has already passed its peak in 2013 and will only keep declining. for businesses, the shrinking and aging labor force will have an impact especially on labor - intensive sectors such as textile, apparel, leather, and wood and furniture, which account for around 7 percent of the value - added in the manufacturing sector. businesses, particularly those that are labor - intensive, will need to rethink business models and find ways to increase productivity, be it through process automation or focusing on r & d to create higher value - added products and services. retaining and retraining employees will also have to become an integral part of businesses. impacts on consumer spending the second implication of demographic shift will be on the market, as consumers ’ spending will change, both in terms of value and composition. thailand ’ s aged dependency ratio — the ratio between population aged 65 and over to the working age population — is projected to increase from less than 20 percent today to more than 50 percent twenty years from now. this demographic shift would impact the country ’ s productivity and present a challenge to the country ’ s fiscal sustainability, as nearly half of thai people are not enrolled in retirement plans. with the majority of the people having high household debt, low savings, and little financial security, aging population will add more burden to households in the form of increased spending for elderly care. moreover, people tend to consume less as they grow older. a study by tdri found that thais in their 50s will decrease their consumption by more than 20 percent when they are in their 60s. aging population will introduce a dramatic change to the consumer market. but this is also an opportunity : the domestic market for the seniors will become larger. in 2017, consumption of thai population older than 50 is worth 2. 8 trillion baht or around 18 percent of the gdp. this will only continue to grow, creating a large niche market for businesses. realizing this will open doors for many opportunities ahead. the demand for products focused on senior lifestyles such as orthopedic shoes and anti - slip floorings will grow.

there are a number of reasons why this is so but, for me, an important reason is that the more prescriptive the code is, the easier it is to get around. rules are easier to arbitrage than principles. moreover, the more prescriptive and the more precise the code, the less people will think about what they are doing. if it ’ s principles - based and less prescriptive then, as i just said, market participants will have to think about whether their actions are consistent with the principles of the code. so, we have worked with the industry to produce a principles - based code rather than a set of prescriptive regulatory standards. it will not impose legal or regulatory obligations on market participants, nor will it supplant existing regulatory standards or expectations. but we do expect the principles in the code to be understood and adopted across the entire fx market. our approach to adherence has a number of dimensions. we laid out our overall approach to adherence to the code in new york in may last year. 6 we will provide a more comprehensive description of the suite of mechanisms to support adherence alongside the release of the code in may. one critical dimension is market - based adherence mechanisms. an important element of discipline should come from the market itself and we are working closely with market participants on this. the adherence to a voluntary code will only come about if firms judge it to be in their interest and take the practical steps to ensure the code is embedded in their practices. such practical steps would include training their staff and putting in appropriate policies and procedures. we have provided a draft statement of commitment for firms to publicly demonstrate their adherence to the code. one reason for a public demonstration is that firms are more likely to 3 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches adhere to the code if they believe that their peers are doing so too. that is, an important source of pressure to adhere should come from other market participants. without blaming them for what occurred, more scrutiny from counterparties about how their fx transactions were being executed may have helped to reduce the incidence and severity of the market abuses that occurred in the past. one reason for this lack of scrutiny was that fx transactions were sometimes regarded as ancillary to the core business, notwithstanding their potential impact on returns. this attitude seems to be in decline, though it still persists. ultimately the success of the code in promoting integrity and restoring confidence in the wholesale fx market lies in the hands of its participants. another aspect of