Page 7 - ASEAN BUSINESS AND INVESTMENT SUMMIT 2019

ASEAN Business & Investment Summit 2019 7

Message from

Minister of Foreign Affairs
of the Kingdom of Thailand

It is my pleasure to welcome all participants to the ASEAN Business and Investment
Summit (ABIS) 2019, an event organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand and the
ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC) in Bangkok during 2-3 November 2019.
This year’s theme of “Empowering ASEAN 4.0” reflects the need for all of us to take timely
action to address the challenges and capture the opportunities arising from the 4 Industrial
th
Revolution (4IR). ASEAN, with a young and vibrant workforce of 350 million, must be able
to adapt and positively respond to these changes. Empowering the people of ASEAN with
the necessary skills, knowledge and expertise will be essential. They must be aware of such
disruptive technologies as Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, the Internet of Things
(IoT), Big Data and Cloud Computing, and learn to utilize them effectively.
It is my conviction that ABIS 2019 will be another exemplary platform to showcase the
collaborative efforts between the ASEAN governments and the private sector in adapting to
the 4IR. I, thus, look forward to fruitful discussions and useful deliberations between Leaders
and relevant stakeholders, and trust that the outcomes of ABIS 2019 will bring about ideas
that will revolutionize our industries and increase productivity as well as the happiness of the
ASEAN workforce.

Don Pramudwinai
Minister of Foreign Affairs
of the Kingdom of Thailand