Prasarn Trairatvorakul: Growth, sustainability and inclusiveness – Thailand’s key success factors Dinner talk by Dr Prasarn Trairatvorakul, Governor of the Bank of Thailand, at the Japanese Chamber of Commerce (JCC), Bangkok, 23 March 2011. *  *  *  Ladies and Gentlemen, Let me begin by extending my deepest condolence to the Japanese business community in Thailand on the immense losses caused by the unprecedented earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Despite the tragic incidents, I am confident that the strength and determination of Japanese people, together with supports from all around the world, will enable Japan to recover swiftly. For today, I would like to thank the Japanese Chamber of Commerce for inviting me to share with the distinguished audience my assessment of the Thai economy. I also look forward to hearing your views and concerns regarding the economic prospects. Needless to say that Japan and Thailand have a long history of close economic relationship, with Japan being the top foreign investor in Thailand. As such, Thailand has become a production hub for several Japanese industries, including vehicles, electronics and electrical appliances. I therefore hope that our discussion today will help align understanding and further strengthen the partnership between our two economies. For my presentation this evening, I would like to offer my assessment of the economy based on what I see as the three most important attributes that determine the economic progress for Thailand – the “key success factors”, if you will. First is that growth must be sustainable.
What is important is that at the moment of the decision, after having had the possibility of analysing all pertinent information and data, market participants can correctly predict our decision thanks to their intimate knowledge of our policy. 2  BIS Review 5/2005  ECB’s communication in practice Some features of the ECB are bringing about major additional challenges for external communications. In particular, the ECB operates in a multicultural environment with 12 different cultures and 10 different languages in the euro area and 25 cultures and 20 languages within the scope of the European System of Central Banks. And, the ECB was given the very ambitious challenge to be fully credible from day one, without track record and to issue a currency which would be immediately as credible as the most credible legacy currencies. In the practical implementation of the communication policy we make use of a wide range of communication tools. I will mention only a few of them here: First, the monthly press conferences after the first Governing Council meeting in each month. The introductory statement at the press conference is a key element in our communication as it conveys the collective view of the ECB’s Governing Council on the monetary policy stance in real time. In fact, the decision to hold a press conference after each policy meeting was unheard of among major central banks prior to the euro.