57 percent and 58 percent respectively. this is linked to the low employment rates in those two sectors, mainly among ultra - orthodox men, and arab women. a closer look at employment among arabs reveals an even more complex picture. an analysis of the figures in the cbs income surveys and the manpower surveys reveal several findings worthy of attention : 1 ) the participation rate among arab women is rising, but it is still lower than that among jewish women. moreover, the rise in their participation rate is reflected mainly in an increase in unemployment among arab women, with only a moderate increase in their employment. thus, in 2006 the employment rate among arab women was about 17 percent, compared with 51 percent among all women in the population. 2 ) in contrast to arab women, the participation rate among arab men is declining, and since the beginning of the decade it has been lower than that among jewish men. this is most prominent among older men. 3 ) the arab labor force has a lower educational level, with most having between nine and twelve years of schooling, compared with the jewish labor force, the highest proportion of which has more than twelve years of education. 4 ) the unemployment rate is higher among arabs than among jews. 5 ) employment among arabs is concentrated in low - paid industries. 6 ) on average, the wage of arab employees, as well as the hourly wage, is lower than that of jewish employees. furthermore, many studies highlight employment inequality and wage inequality between the arab population and the jewish population. there are several reasons for this, and i will not be revealing any new discovery if i mention the word " discrimination ". the picture arising from the integration of the arab population in the work force in israel indicates the necessity to pay special attention to this issue and to find appropriate solutions based among other things on a proper system of incentives. the purpose must be to increase the participation rate of the whole arab population and at the same time to remove the barriers to their absorption in the workplace, and this is of particular relevance to women. at the same time it is essential to place education as a high priority, and i mean particularly education and training in professions and skills that will help the integration of the arab population into the labor market, especially in those industries and occupations requiring relatively high levels of skill, and which command high pay. i am referring both to technological and non - technological education. in this context i would like to mention that in the last few years technological education has been sorely neglected. i hear

developments have also come a long way. with intensive and continuous legal and regulatory reforms since the 1997 asian crisis, our financial system is now resilient and in a good position to support growth. on this note, let me also say that the bank of thailand holds regular meetings with representatives from both thai and foreign banks associations, as well as meetings with their top management to discuss current issues and policy implications. this dialogue helps us to continuously strengthen risk management such that the financial system will remain in a strong position to serve the real economy efficiently. third, thanks partly to export diversification over the years, thai export is now recovering strongly despite a considerable shock to trades. a decade ago, thailand relied mostly on g3 countries as our export market, but now, asean market as well as bric ( i. e., brazil, russia, india, and china ) and other new destinations are emerging strongly and help diversify risk from the g3 countries. we also did not get much impact from the european debt crisis since our exports to piigs countries ( i. e., portugal, ireland, italy, greece, and spain ) account for only 1. 8 percent of total exports. despite an impressive export growth now, thailand needs to become more resilient against greater competition by an increasing number of emerging markets. thailand is somewhat in an awkward position currently, being left behind by the nics, and being caught up by countries like china and vietnam, to name a few. it is therefore important to extend efforts beyond market diversification to promoting higher value along the production chain, a task that both the private sector and the government have a role to play. especially with the rising ftas as well as other regional integration and cooperation, notably among asean, we must work to make sure that thai producers and exporters can fully utilize the benefits from these arrangements. fourth, prudent policy has obviously shielded us from the contagion of external developments so far. in addition to the importance of fiscal discipline and debt sustainability which i have already highlighted, i would like to stress that monetary policy has not and should not be used as an instrument to boost short - term growth. however, it can help cushion the economy against growth contraction in the short run, while ensuring stability in the long run. in this past crisis, the adverse effect led us to a series of aggressive rate cuts during december 2008 to april 2009 in order to help shore up the economy. the rate cuts were timely and