Veerathai Santiprabhob: Opening remarks - Bangkok Sustainable Banking Forum 2018

Opening remarks by Dr Veerathai Santiprabhob, Governor of the Bank of Thailand, at the Bangkok Sustainable Banking Forum 2018, Bangkok, 23 July 2018.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

A very good morning to you all.

I am delighted to welcome all of you to the Bank of Thailand for our very first Bangkok Sustainable Banking Forum. This forum aims to enhance greater awareness of sustainability practice in finance by bringing together leaders in the area of sustainability, showcasing best practices and efforts taken by participants from the financial sector, and identifying areas we can improve. This event is a part of a series of conferences organized throughout this year to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Bank of Thailand.

Ladies and gentlemen,

In 1987 the United Nations first defined sustainability or sustainable development as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs1." Since then, this concept has served as a guiding principle for various long-term global development agendas. Yet, the principal ideas of sustainability, especially of moderation, responsibility and maintaining long-term focus, hardly takes the center stage in popular media, most notably in the economic and financial headlines-where we often focus our narratives on short-term indicators, like GDP growth, shareholders' earnings, stock prices, or bonus paychecks.