On April 3, 2019, Mr. Lavaron Sangsnit, Director of the Fiscal Policy Office (FPO), revealed during the 23rd ASEAN Finance Ministers' Meeting and the 5th ASEAN Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting, along with other related meetings in Chiang Rai, that participants did not express concerns about the health impacts or the meeting itself due to the haze situation in the northern region. They believe that environmental issues are short-term problems that will resolve within a week, leading to the confidence that investors will not be worried about these issues to the extent that it would delay investments. Similarly, it is believed that tourists will not be affected either, with expectations this year for the number of tourists traveling to Thailand to be no less than 40 million.


           Regarding the ASEAN Finance Ministers' Meeting, discussions will focus on enhancing connectivity among ASEAN countries, emphasizing cooperation in establishing a Single Window to facilitate the transportation of goods between member states. Additionally, Thailand will lead the development of a unified payment system in ASEAN, or ASEAN QR Code, which is expected to begin development with the CLMV countries first. Currently, Laos and Cambodia have shown interest, along with the PromptPay system, which is already linked with Pay Now and will serve as a model for developing PromptPay in ASEAN moving forward.

           At the same time, discussions will address the fiscal status of countries in the ASEAN group, with Thailand confirming that its fiscal position remains strong, international reserves are at a high level, inflation is within target, and unemployment is low.

 

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