into the backbone of thailand ’ s economic growth engine over a longer horizon. in particular, i want to focus on bank of thailand ’ s roles to help transform the thai economy into one that is more efficient, more productive, and more inclusive. but before doing so, let me give you a quick summary on a broader perspective regarding the new economic platforms in thailand which have emerged over the past few years. chief among them is the new investment platform in the eastern economic corridor or the eec in short. the eec, as many of you know, is an economic zone specifically designed to bring about large infrastructure upgrades and provide extensive investment incentives for high value - added industries. the continuity of this investment platform is ensured regardless of any political changes now that the eec act has come into effect since may. last year, we have seen the value of net investment applications under the thailand board of investment privilege program 5 / 10 grew by 23 percent, almost half of which are investment in the eec. the high speed train project to connect u - tapao airport with major cities within the eec and two main airports in bangkok has been announced with the tor of this project now available for potential bidders. the tor for laem chabang seaport upgrade will also be announced in a few months ’ time. in addition to the eec act, various legal amendments and process improvements were implemented over the past couple of years to improve the ease of doing business in thailand and ensure that laws can be adjusted to accommodate new business practices in a timely manner. with these reforms, thailand ’ s position in the world bank ’ s doing business ranking improved from 46th in 2017 to 26th in 2018, and we should continue to see further improvements in the ease of doing business in thailand going forward. another important development, which provides a strong foundation for digital economy, is the nationwide broadband internet project. over the past years, the project has brought fiber optics network to almost 25, 000 villages in remote parts of the country, enabling access to free - wifi hotspots as well as home broadband at affordable prices. as such, human capital development can improve greatly through better access to online information, remote education, and online healthcare services. business opportunity can also be greatly expanded with greater access to online marketing platforms and more cost - effective communication tools. this new and expanded online connectivity is a critical milestone which will bring economic opportunity and productivity to people in the rural area whose potential has been limited by the previous lack of supportive

rundheersing bheenick : bank of mauritius – improving financial literacy transcript of impromptu remarks by mr rundheersing bheenick, governor of the bank of mauritius, at the prize - giving ceremony to reward record - setters and champions of the 2011 inter - youth championship as well as winners of the monetary policy challenge and essay competition, port louis, 20 december 2011. * * * thank you all for honouring us with your presence here this afternoon. i can safely say that when i came here five years ago, this kind of event would not have taken place. you would probably never have been invited to the central bank, for the central bank was a very closed institution. it dealt only with banks and not with anything else. for our 40th anniversary in 2007, we decided to open up gradually. part of that opening up was to reach out to other operators in the economy beyond bankers. we thus started the dialogue with private sector operators and real sector operators. while we were doing that, we thought we should also reach out to the younger generation. we launched several initiatives. we opened up the bank to financial education and financial literacy and to many things which the bank had never done before, for example the creation of a bamboo garden. i am happy to say that gradually, staff started embracing the concept of corporate social responsibility ( csr ) within the bank itself. and what we are doing today, guiding the tentative steps of the young in the direction of a brighter future, is precisely in the context of csr. we believe strongly in what we are doing. we believe that inspecting banks, keeping them well - capitalized and well - supervised, is not enough. we must educate you and inform you of what we are trying to do – we must have informed citizens. most people have not even heard of the central bank and when they happen to hear about it they hear bad things. when the press expects the central bank people to reduce rates, they are hiking up rates ; when commentators on radios expect them to do one particular thing, they are doing the opposite. but when you look back over the years you find that the economy and the financial sector have been quite stable, and inflation is more or less tamed. so, the central bank people have not been doing things so badly after all. we are not as bad as you might tend to believe if you only read the press or the boohoos all day long on the different radio stations. we hope that you