Thai Bank Chief Cites Three Gains from AM 2026 Hosting
Phayong Sriwichit of the Thai Bankers Association said hosting the AM 2026 conference gave Thailand three key benefits: learning from global leaders, sharing Thai insights, and building cross‑sector ties. He urged turning the gains into concrete action through public‑private frameworks like Resilient Thailand and ASEAN dialogue to avoid a one‑off event.
Phayong Sriwichit, President of the Thai Bankers Association, said hosting the AM 2026 global conference delivered three major benefits for Thailand: learning from world leaders, letting world leaders learn from Thailand, and building connections across sectors. He noted that participants praised Thailand's hospitality and upgraded facilities, with IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva expressing a desire to hold the event in Thailand yearly and the OECD secretary welcoming the country's serious push for membership. Phayong added that listening to unscripted insights from global leaders offered a learning experience comparable to studying at Harvard or MIT, and that the data presented on inequality and income concentration matched Thailand's realities. World leaders also urged policymakers to balance present and future generations amid fiscal constraints and public debt, while stressing the need for flexible, rapid responses to uncertainty. He expressed confidence that the conference would attract significant new investment, as foreign investors got to experience Thailand firsthand, meet local businesses, and verify its potential. He stressed that the real challenge now is turning the knowledge into action through media, academia, and ASEAN bilateral talks, ensuring the event is not a one‑off. Phayong concluded that continuous execution is vital, leveraging public‑private frameworks such as Resilient Thailand, New Horizon, Bangkok Business Summit, and Lean Thailand to turn ideas into concrete results.
