Excluding the purchase of non-regular transport machinery, this component of investment has improved in recent months. 9. In our baseline scenario, gross fixed capital formation should experience a slightly positive growth in 2017, after three consecutive years of contraction. A key factor in the negative figures of the last few years is the ending of the mining investment cycle, which reached its peak in 2012. More recently the deterioration of housing construction has added, as the boom triggered by tax incentives finished and a modification of loan-to-value norms reduced home sales. Going forward, our forecasts rely on an increase in non-mining and nonresidential investment (mainly machinery and equipment). While mining investment will eventually return to positive territory during 2018, the gradual adjustment in residential investment is expected to continue during the following quarters (Figure 5). Figure 5 Real annual contribution to GFCF (*) (percentage points)  16  16  12  12 Other  8  8 Non-mining  4 0  4 0  -4  -4  Housing  -8  -8  Mining  -12  -12  -16  -16 09  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  (*) For sectoral GFCF, variations of the 2008 Benchmark Compilation are used. Since total GFCF is expressed using the 2013 Benchmark Compilation, annual variation of other GFCF is adjusted for consistency purposes.
BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  The other is the Executives’ Meeting of East Asia-Pacific Central Banks or EMEAP, which have helped develop the capital market in the region through the establishment of the Asian Bond Fund and many other initiatives. The increasingly important role of China to the Thai economy and financial system has brought about the need for broader and deeper understanding of the Chinese economy and a more proactive response from public agencies, including the Bank of Thailand, to seek a presence in China. Your Royal Highness, Ladies and Gentlemen, Following the initial foothold in the form of two representative offices in New York and London twenty years ago, the Bank of Thailand recently established a representative office here in Beijing. The Beijing office is our first representative office in Asia. I also believe that we are the first central bank from the ASEAN region to have its representative office in China. But, being the first is not the only measure of success for our journey here. Since its establishment last year, our Beijing representative office has fulfilled its objectives to further promote closer ties between the Bank of Thailand and the People’s Bank of China, as well as other Chinese government agencies. The office also aims to sharpen its focus and first-hand understanding of the economic and financial developments in China. This achievement is well-illustrated by the deepening financial cooperation between China and Thailand.