AEC to be promoted as world economic hub

BANGKOK, January 29 (TNA) - Taking the role of the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2019, under the theme of “Advancing Partnership for Sustainability”, Thailand is promoting the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) to become a world economic hub in the future. Thai Finance Ministry Spokesman Lawaron Sangsanit, who is also Director-General of the ministry's Fiscal Policy Office (FPO), told journalists of the policy goal on January 28, saying that his ministry and the Bank of Thailand (BOT) are, thus, jointly working out three content frameworks on regional financial cooperation towards the goal, including the connectivity, the sustainability and the immunity frameworks. The spokesman stated that for the connectivity framework, it will be focused on measures to develop the regional connectivity in financial payment and other business service systems to support the borderless trade and investment among ASEAN member countries, covering promoting the use of local currencies for the payment of goods and services, as well as for investment projects in the AEC, the widely adoption of the cross-border electronic transfer or transaction of money through commercial banks' online applications (e-banking service) and the full application of the ASEAN Single Window (ASW) to connect regional customs processes through the regional e-system. The spokesman acknowledged that the connectivity framework will then support the sustainability framework, under which the full accessibility of financial services in the region will be prioritized to turn the AEC to become a world developed economy and society on the sustainable basis, covering the regional capital and insurance markets. The spokesman revealed that for the immunity framework, it will be emphasized on the development of regional cyber security and cooperation systems to protect digital assets and to achieve a strategic goal on materializing the digital ASEAN policy, through, for instance, training programs provided for financial personnel of member countries and networks created to exchange information between capital market regulators of member countries and to also provide information to the public on the development of regional digital assets and to prevent frauds. According to the spokesman, the three content frameworks, if successfully implemented, will connect all dimensions in the AEC to sustain the regional development in the long run with its strength to efficiently cope with vulnerable factors on the world market, including cyber threats, through advanced technologies, paving the way for the AEC to become a world economic hub in the future. (TNA)