"Thailand Blockchain Community Initiative" launched

BANGKOK, March 19 (TNA) - More than a dozen of banks in Thailand have joined forces with three state enterprises and four large-scaled firms in developing the "Thailand Blockchain Community Initiative" for the first time in the country, in which the digital blockchain technology is adopted to enhance the national business competitiveness. Bank of Thailand (BOT) Governor Veerathai Santiprabhob told journalists of the update on Monday, noting that the "Thailand Blockchain Community Initiative" remains a test run project overseen by the BOT's Regulatory Sandbox. Veerathai said the implementation of the "Thailand Blockchain Community Initiative" will be initially started with the cooperation on launching the letters of guarantee (LGs) service with its high security property. Besides, the Thai central bank has cooperated with the 14 banks to resort to the blockchain technology to swiftly issue bonds, from about 15 days to only two days. Meanwhile, Predee Daochai, Chairman of the Thai Bankers’ Association (TBA), revealed that the 14 banks include Bangkok Bank, Kasikornbank, Siam Commercial Bank, Krung Thai Bank, Bank of Ayudhya, Kiatnakin Bank, CIMB Thai, TMB Bank, Tisco Bank, Thanachart Bank, United Overseas Bank (UOB), Standard Chartered Bank (Thai), Government Savings Bank (GSB) and Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), while the three state enterprises and four corporations, include the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), the Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA), the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA), PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited, PTT Polymer Marketing Company Limited, IRPC Public Company Limited and Siam Cement Group (SCG). The TBA chairman told reporters that the "Thailand Blockchain Community Initiative" has also been supported by the National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC), IBM Thailand Co., Ltd. and Baker & McKenzie Ltd. in terms of their technological and legal consulting services. The TBA chairman told reporters, however, that the LGs service has been mostly relied on paper, or 80-85 per cent of its total value of 1.35 trillion baht in 2017 alone. (TNA)