and safeguarding social protection. ( a ) changing the fiscal policy mix the most serious obstacle that needs to be gradually removed is the excessive tax burden on businesses and households. the overachievement of the fiscal target for a primary surplus in 2016 was predominantly driven by an overperformance of tax revenue and to a much lesser extent by a containment of public spending. the increase in tax revenue is attributed to increases in direct and indirect tax rates, but also to a broadening of the tax base as a result of the widespread use of electronic payments that reduced the scope for concealing income. however, the current fiscal policy mix weighs heavily on economic growth, contributes to the increase in private sector arrears to the government and encourages tax evasion and undeclared work. steering the economy onto a growth trajectory calls for a change in the current “ tax - centred ” fiscal policy mix. emphasis must be placed on : containing and systematically restructuring nonproductive expenditure ; reducing the excessive burden of taxes and social security contributions on the productive economy ; and a more efficient use and management of state - owned property. in other words, there is a need for a fiscal environment capable of supporting the growth effort. this fiscal environment would additionally benefit from the implementation of short - term debt relief measures, the specification of medium - to - long - term ones and a possible quantification of realistic fiscal targets for beyond 2018. more specifically, higher - than - targeted primary surpluses, together with the implementation of the agreed reforms, could facilitate the progressive easing of the tax burden without jeopardising fiscal sustainability. it should be noted that the benefits to economic activity would be maximised if the fiscal space generated by the overperformance of tax revenue or by the reforms is used towards reducing income tax rates. at the same time, fiscal policy should support growth by ensuring a stable, internationally competitive and equitable tax system. ( b ) encouraging foreign direct investment given, first, that private investment as a percentage of gdp currently falls far short of its precrisis level ( 11 % against 24 % of gdp ) and, second, that chronically low domestic saving is insufficient to finance the level of investment required for strong growth, there is an urgent need to attract foreign capital for joint investments with domestic firms. apart from tourism, the economy has a number of other sectors with noteworthy growth potential, export - orientation and highly - qualified human capital. attracting foreign direct investment ( fdi ) will require

of these solutions lead to lower cost of financial services, greater financial access, and greater opportunity for the public. ultimately, “ fintech ” can help unlock massive potential of our people and businesses and be a powerful tool for thailand and developing countries to improve on productivity, immunity, and inclusivity of the financial system as well as for the whole economy. ladies and gentlemen, the theme of our very first bangkok fintech fair focuses on smes and consumers, because these two groups face various challenges and can benefit greatly from the adoption of fintech. for thailand, smes represent the majority of firms and make up over 80 percent of total employment. many smes struggle to gain access to finance and payment services, which, on one hand, can be attributed to poor financial health due to loss of competitiveness. on the other hand, many smes lack the financial management skills and collateral needed for funding, and their 5 - 7 cost of finance remains high. meanwhile, the thai public is facing big hurdles of low long - term savings and high household debts, with thailand having household debt to gdp ratio amongst the highest in the region. many households lack access to efficient and low - cost financial services, be it the deposit, payment, insurance or loan products. these people need to be better served by our financial system to be able to unlock their potential, improve standard of living, and ensure their financial security as they age. despite many challenges, i am delighted that exciting developments and initiatives are taking place in thailand and around the region using fintech to address these problems. allow me to highlight some of these initiatives. we have : accounting service applications for smes and start - ups on cloud platforms online mortgage refinance portals that help select the best refinancing option for mortgage clients real - time and low cost cross - border money transfer and remittance platforms biometric verifications for e - kyc to facilitate remote access to financial services machine learning using alternative data such as social media for credit scoring real - time invoice financing through common supply chain platform standardized qr code for e - payments, which has reached nearly 1 million merchants within six months after exiting from the bank of thailand ’ s regulatory sandbox ; and last but not least promptpay, a real - time payment infrastructure that has facilitated electronic payments for over 39 million registered ids in thailand 6 - 7 these are just some of the solutions available for smes and consumers in our market. to this end,