Our reorganization strategy focuses on four aspects, namely organizational structure and work process, human resource management, decision-making process, and database and information technology. Our hierarchical structure has now been reduced from a total of seven layers to four. Authorities and responsibilities are being further delegated toward a lower level to the operating officers in charge. This helps reduce the previously lengthy approval process and increase our flexibility. New departments have been established to better cope with the rapidly changing economy and the rising information need of the organization. These include the Data Management Group, the Information and Public Relation Group, the Planning Group who conducts a bank-wide risk assessment as well as a new Department of Risk Management and Information Technology Examination, who monitor risk profile and risk management at the financial institutions. In addition, our business processes are now more client-oriented with a new website, new voice-mail, and new central point of contacts being offered as services to our stakeholders. Both the Netherlands and Thailand are small open economies in the world market. To survive the tide of globalization, we both need a well thought out strategies. We have to choose our battleground and cooperate with friends around the world. To do this, local strength has to be further strengthened while lessons and technologies must be learnt from others. Here, international co-operations through jointed ventures, through foreign direct investment, or through international trade will play major roles in our successes.
So, we must heartily embrace the process and take the best opportunities offered by the integration of the global communities while limit the potential adverse consequences that come along with the process. To do this, we must reexamine ourselves to review our weaknesses and our strengths. After all, there was an old Chinese saying: "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle." Thailand learned her first-hand lessons the hard way and had opportunities to reexamine herself in detail in the past couple years. Several weaknesses were identified. Prominent in the list is, of course, we do not fully know our enemies. This has already been partially remedied by simply being part of the game, staying competitive in the world market, and actively participating in the new knowledge-based economy. Thai Ministry of Commerce now has 48 representative offices around the world. And in my case, the Bank of Thailand constantly sends our staffs to work at other public and private organizations, both inside and outside the country. But still, at the core of all of these, we need to make sure that our corporate sector gets back on its feet.