The UK Government and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand (SEC Thailand) have signed a new MoU on financial services to promote inclusive economic growth. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aims to promote inclusive economic growth and support Thailand on the transition towards low carbon and sustainable economy.

It builds on the previous MoU under which the two parties have been collaborating for the past few years. The new MOU will focus on supporting Thailand to further develop the regulatory environment for the fintech sector, promote sustainable finance, and increase awareness of sustainable investment in Thailand and other ASEAN countries. The cooperation will be funded by the UK’s ASEAN Economic Reform Programme and the UK’s Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions Programme, which support knowledge and expertise sharing, and regular practices on financial technology and sustainable finance.

The ASEAN Economic Reform Programme is funded by the UK’s Overseas Development Assistance budget under the UK Government’s Prosperity Fund. The programme focuses on strengthening the business environment through intellectual property enforcement, regulatory reform, and improved competition policy; improving transparency; and strengthening the financial sector through capital market development, finyech capacity and accounting standards. The 2020 MoU Under the previous MoU, the UK and the SEC Thailand worked together with the UK providing technical assistance in areas including accounting standards, the development of fintech ecosystem, sustainable finance such as green bonds and climate risk disclosure for listed companies, e-Know Your Customer (e-KYC), and cybersecurity.

The collaboration was aimed to support sustainable, inclusive, low carbon economic growth and recovery in Thailand and through financial services sector. This MoU has come at a crucial time amidst the COVID-19 pandemic as the health crisis has not only been an accelerating factor for innovation and digitalisation of market participants to cope with its impact but has also emphasised on the importance of being adaptive and flexible to new opportunities arising from the change in behaviours of market players in the capital market. Financial services have played a critical role in supporting businesses and individuals through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Inclusive economic growth Inclusive growth has gained increasing prominence over recent years. The concept originated in the work of economists debating the importance of not just growth itself – but of the shape and distribution of growth across a population. While inclusive growth means many different things to different people, it can be broadly defined as ‘a concern with both the pace and pattern of growth’.

Therefore, inclusive growth asks new questions about which people and places stand to benefit from growth – as well as which people or places are excluded from the benefits of growth. Inclusive growth generates decent jobs, gives opportunities for all segments of society, especially the most disadvantaged, and distributes the gains from prosperity more equally. Finally, in order to bring new prosperity and new opportunities, growth must usher in new ways to support sustainable consumption and production.

It must also enable sustainable development. .