Bangkok, The Bank of Thailand, in collaboration with eight Thai commercial banks, has launched the Financing the Transition project, which aims to support the business sector in adapting to environmental sustainability that is appropriate for the Thai context. The Bank of Thailand (BOT) organized the 'Financing the Transition: Finance for Business Adaptation to Sustainability' event at the BOT Headquarters to launch a product that supports financial support for the business sector to adapt to environmental sustainability that is suitable for the Thai context (Financing the Transition project). The project was joined by 8 commercial banks: Bangkok Bank, Krungthai Bank, Bank of Ayudhya, Kasikornbank, Kiatnakin Bank, Thanachart Bank, Siam Commercial Bank, and UOB. Participants included government agencies, financial institutions, businesses, and international organizations. Mr. Sethaput Suthiwatanaruput, Governor of the Bank of Thailand, said that this event was organized with the determination and intention of the Bank of Thailand and commercial banks to let the financial sector play an important role in supporting the adjustment of Thai businesses towards environmental sustainability through the development of financial products that meet the needs of businesses, especially SMEs. This is an important step that will allow SMEs to start adjusting seriously. The main principle of adjustment that we would like to emphasize is to consider the timing and speed that are appropriate for the context of Thailand, which has a high brown economy and a large number of SMEs that have not yet been able to adjust. Therefore, we must create a balance between moving towards sustainability goals and preventing negative side effects that may occur to various sectors. Therefore, financial support for the adjustment from businesses that are not environmentally friendly to becoming more environmentally friendly (from brown to less brown) or Financing the Transition is very important for the country. It may have to start from small st eps to make it happen in a tangible way and be able to expand widely. In this event, the participating commercial banks offered products that meet the needs of customer groups comprehensively and directly. Mr. Ronadol Numnonda, Deputy Governor, Financial Institutions Stability, BOT, talked about the path of driving sustainable financial sector of BOT together with commercial banks, which starts from (1) raising awareness of the importance and role of banking sector in supporting sustainable growth of Thai economy in all dimensions of environment, society and governance (ESG) which are important foundation of business operation under sustainable banking concept, (2) setting direction of sustainable financial sector for environment to communicate expectation for commercial banks to assess opportunity and risk from environmental issue, including financial product that support customer to adapt to transition to environmental sustainability, and (3) laying foundation for sustainable environmental ecosystem togeth er with relevant agencies, such as BOT policy for commercial banks to integrate environmental issue in business operation throughout process and create Thailand Taxonomy. The above driving process led to cooperation with commercial banks to launch products to support businesses to make tangible adjustments that are suitable for the Thai context through the Financing the Transition project. During the event, senior executives from all 8 commercial banks talked about the products that each bank supports business adjustments. There were also activities to provide knowledge and advice on adjusting business operations to be environmentally friendly, covering important Thai economic sectors such as the food and beverage manufacturing industry, the agricultural industry, the construction and real estate sector, and the hotel business. Those interested can follow the project details and news on the BOT website (https://www.bot.or.th/th/financial-innovation/sustainable-finance/green.html) and the websites of each par ticipating commercial bank. The BOT sincerely hopes that this project will help support the adjustment of the business sector, especially SMEs, and help inspire various sectors and lead to broader cooperation to drive the Thai economy towards sustainability. Source: Thai News Agency