finally, regional cooperation in the areas of surveillance and financing should be further fostered. regional surveillance can help contribute to financial stability by strengthening the policy framework at the national level. cooperative financing arrangements at the regional level designed to supplement resources provided by the imf can also enhance effectiveness in crisis prevention and resolution. here i see great strides being made in these cooperative efforts in the region, including swap mechanisms that have been developed and are being expanded. furthermore, cooperative efforts in promoting the practice of information sharing and capacity building will help strengthen competency of regional central banks to safeguard against external shocks and disturbances. although the practice of information dissemination among the regional peers is nothing new, there is still room for improvement to facilitate a more structured approach and timely delivery. ladies and gentlemen, these are just some food for thought to precede the more detailed discussions and lively debate to follow. i certainly look forward to hearing the views of mr. caruana, who has been among those at the centre of the challenges facing us. his perspectives will be valuable for our further discussions and deliberations. and we will learn more from mr. glenn stevens, governor of the reserve bank of australia ; mr. kiyohiko nishimura, deputy governor of the bank of japan ; and mr. heng swee keat, managing director of the monetary authority of singapore, who will lead the discussions focusing on their respective country ’ s experiences. this will be in keeping with our tradition in learning from one another to further enhance seanza cooperation and promote greater stability in the region. in concluding my remarks, i would like to reiterate to you my warmest welcome, and may i also wish us all a successful and fruitful meeting, which would hopefully bring us on the right track towards weathering the storm in anticipation of sunnier days. thank you.

mr chatu mongol sonakul : inflation targeting - a new monetary policy approach for thailand speech by mr mr chatu mongol sonakul, governor of the bank of thailand, at the bank of thailand ’ s international economic conference “ practical experiences on inflation targeting ” held in bangkok on 20 october 2000. * * * distinguished panelists, ladies and gentlemen, this is the second seminar on inflation targeting organized by the bank of thailand. but this is the first seminar at international level, with highly distinguished speakers from many famous central banks. to set the right tone for the seminar, i want to start with a question : what does the general public expect from the central bank? people invariably want the good life : a high standard of living, abundant goods and services to consume. they also want political freedom, a clean environment, and many other things, but let us concentrate on the economic aspects in order to keep it relevant to central banking. to give people the good life, the economy has to be generating output at a high level, the highest level in relation to its capacity. the economy will also have to generate enough jobs to accommodate the new workers entering the labor force yearly. for many asian countries where the demographic slant is heavily towards the younger ages, the number of new workers entering the labor force each year is substantial. therefore, the level of output has to grow to provide adequate employment. the people can rightly expect the central bank to have an important role in this : giving them the good life. but they do not stop here. people also want the good life to continue, avoiding the excessive boom and bust cycles and, of course, avoiding unnecessary crises. they invariably want more and more of better goods and services. this requires the economy to not only simply produce at a high level, but also to make adequate capital formation to generate a high growth rate. there are many factors other than investment that affect growth - things like productivity, innovation and education. but they are outside the realm of central banking. within the area of central banking, however, the general public can rightly expect the central bank to provide them with an environment conducive to growth, without the excessive boom and bust cycles and avoiding crisis whenever possible. what else do the people expect? people also expect a fair distribution of opportunity and income. central banks generally do not have a direct hand in providing equal distribution of income, much less opportunity. this responsibility generally lies with the overall machinery of government. nevertheless, high