Welcoming Remarks by H.E. Mr. Soonthorn Chaiyindeepum Ambassador of Thailand and Chairman of ASEAN Committee in Doha At ASEAN Seminar 2017 20 November 2017 at 19.30 hrs. Shangri-La Hotel His Excellency Ambassador Ibrahim Yousif Abdullah Fahkroo, Chief of Protocol Her Excellency Madam Rawda Safwan Zeedan, Director of Private Schools Affairs Department, Ministry of Education and Higher Education. Excellencies Ambassadors of the ASEAN Countries, Mr. Joseph Abraham, Group CEO of Commercial Bank of Qatar, Fellow ASEAN colleagues, Friends from the media, ซาลาม มาเลก ม and Good evening It is a great pleasure and honour for me and my colleagues, Ambassadors of ASEAN countries in Qatar, to welcome you all to the Seminar on Trade and Investment Opportunities in ASEAN which is part of a series of events to commemorate the 50 th Anniversary of the founding of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN this year. At the outset, allow me to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to the Shangri-La Hotel for the enthusiasm and support on this important event organized by the ASEAN Committee in Doha (ACD) which 1
comprises the Embassies of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. In March last year, the ASEAN Committee in Doha (ACD) organized a Business Seminar jointly with Qatar Chamber. This year, we build up from what we achieved during the last seminar in providing the perspectives from leading business person as well as all ASEAN Ambassadors on the potentials in doing business with ASEAN. It is especially more relevant today, in light of the current situation that Qatar is now trying to diversify and encourage more trade and investment with countries in South East Asia, and to build up strong ties with ASEAN, as reflected by the recent visit of His Highness the Emir, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani to Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia last month. Excellencies, Before going to the subject of the seminar, allow me to briefly touch on ASEAN. ASEAN is established in 1967 or exactly 50 years ago. For the past five decades, ASEAN has played an important role contributing to economic growth and prosperity in the region. Today, ASEAN with the population of 622 million and a combined GDP of 2.6 trillion USD, is collectively the 3 rd largest economy in Asia and the 6 th the world. It has also attracted more than 120 billion USD of foreign direct investment. Significant progress on its economic integration has seen the elimination of intra-regional tariff, streamlining of customs procedures, harmonisation 2
of standards as well as business regulatory frameworks, liberalised financial market, and easier mobility of skill manpower and professionals in the region. All of these have led to reduced transaction costs and enabling environment for doing business in ASEAN. This is testified by a report from the World Bank on Ease of Doing Business for the year 2018 which was published last week, where we see significant improvement in ranking of many ASEAN countries. For example, Thailand whose ranking was 46 last year and now moves to 26, Brunei from 72 to 56, Viet Nam from 82 to 68, and Indonesia from 91 to 72, just to name a few. Of course, Singapore ranking remains the second top and Malaysia at 24. In addition, ASEAN is also expanding its Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with major economies in the region, namely China; Japan; South Korea; Australia; New Zealand; and India. Last week at the side line of the ASEAN Summit in the Philippines, ASEAN and Hong Kong has just signed an FTA agreement, thus adding another vibrant economy into our common Free Trade Areas. As we are entering the sixth decade, ASEAN is embarking upon the formation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) which will embrace 16 countries in the region into one single market, covering more than 45 percent of the world population, with 21.3 trillion USD of combined GDP and 40 percent of global trade. With these extensive FTAs, and an increasing investment in infrastructure and human resources, ASEAN has emerged as a strong player in the global trade arena, leveraging on its strategic location, rich resource endowment, cost effectiveness, young demographic dividends and relatively stable political and security environment. Its economic dynamism has made ASEAN one of the world s preferred investment destinations. Given these strengths, the region will continue to provide a platform for business to thrive with sustainable growth. 3
Excellencies, On the subject of the Seminar tonight, I am please to introduce our guest speaker, Mr. Joseph Abraham, Group CEO of Commercial Bank of Qatar. Mr. Joseph Abraham has an extensive experience in business and banking for over 30 years. Prior to taking up his position as the Group CEO of Commercial Bank last year, he served as the CEO of ANZ Indonesia Bank for over 8 years. Before that, he held numerous positions in the Standard Charted Bank and served in many countries including Hong Kong, Singapore, South Africa, UK and India. Tonight, he will be sharing with us his views and insights on the trade and investment opportunities in ASEAN and how businessmen in ASEAN and Qatar can harness this potential. After his keynote address, I would like to give the floor to the Ambassador of the Philippines, H. E. Mr. Alan Timbayan to briefly highlight key outcomes of the ASEAN Summit which was concluded successfully last week under the Philippines Chairmanship. Then, we will open the floor for interactive session with comments, questions and answer. After that, I have the honour to invite all of you to join the opening ceremony of the ASEAN Food Festival and a buffet dinner at Sridan Restaurant on the second floor. There will also be cultural performances from the ASEAN embassies to entertain guests. After tonight, the Food Festival at Sridan Restaurant will still continue to offer guests a chance to taste the sumptuous ASEAN cuisine until the end of this month. Lastly, I would like to express our appreciation once again to the Government of Qatar, our VIP guests, Mr. Joseph Abraham, Group CEO of Commercial Bank of Qatar and Mr. Alex Willats, General Manager of Shangri-La Hotel, for the unwavering support extended to the Committee 4
and to our individual Embassies. I would also like to express our thanks to you all for participating in this event tonight. We hope that the Seminar will be useful to you and your esteemed organization, and you also enjoy the ASEAN cuisine that we are offering tonight. We look forward to your continued support and participation in our future activities. Shukran and thank you very much. 5