Page 12 - ELITE PLUS MAGAZINE Vol 3

COVER STORYFor Bangkok Bank, we don’t have much to change. Our position since the beginning has been as a ‘universal bank’ that provides all financial services to all customers. We have been in business for over 70 years. We know our job wellof our industrial sectors. We may not be a big player like Europe, America or Japan, but Thailand is one the world’s biggest producers and exporters of automotive parts. Our tourism industry is among the world’s best. We have massive construction companies that compete for big projects abroad. We also do well in consumer goods, construction materials and energy. More impor- tantly, Thailand has achieved all of this even before the AEC was concep- tualized.As for commercial banking, Bangkok Bank should continue to do well in the new setting too. We are a Thai bank, with a good number of branches that have operated overseas for decades, especially across Asia. We’re confident that we know Asia and ASEAN as well as anyone. We’re ready for the AEC.However, please note that the AEC, particularly in finance and banking, won’t come into full effect next year, since some member countries aren’t ready yet. I think it will take another five years to become operational.For Bangkok Bank, we don’t have much to change. Our position since the beginning has been as a “universal bank” that provides all financial services to all customers. We have been in business for over 70 years. We know our job well. We will keep doing what we can do. But, having committed to that principle, we still have to pay more attention to “least cost operations”, which is something at the heart of competition anyhow.If there is to be any change at all, it will be on our positioning from being just a “universal bank” to being an “international universal bank”. How does that sound?compete internationally.The AEC will benefit Thailand inthe long run. At the starting line we might be behind some countries, but we will soon catch up. As it is, we can’t expand much within our country alone. With the AEC and the bigger10 Elite+market, involving the populations of 10 countries, it will be a golden opportunity to expand for everyone who is willing to fight hard. The “cake” now becomes bigger, and in my view that’s a new challenge and prospect for Thailand. Look at some