PM Anutin promotes Thailand as global connector in AI era at IMF–World Bank opening on October 16
Anutin urges global partners in Bangkok to connect markets, capital and technology to support business growth, skills development and better lives.
- At the IMF–World Bank meeting opening, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul promoted Thailand as a global connector for linking markets, capital, and technology with people.
- He framed this role by citing Thailand's long history of openness and its historical importance as a center for international trade and diplomacy connecting East and West.
- Anutin emphasized that in the current AI era, global cooperation is essential to navigate profound technological and economic changes, contrasting it with the technological landscape of 1991.
- He stressed that the goal of being a connector is to turn discussions into practical cooperation that creates business growth, skills development, and better opportunities for people.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul presented Thailand as a global connector linking markets, capital and technology with opportunities for people at the formal opening of the 2026 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group in Bangkok on October 16, 2026.
Speaking at 9.15am at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, Anutin called for international cooperation to address profound economic and technological changes.
Thailand draws on a history of openness
Anutin described Thailand as a longstanding meeting place for people, cultures and ideas, tracing that role to Ayutthaya’s importance as a centre of international trade and diplomacy connecting East and West.
“Siam prospered not by isolating itself from the world, but by embracing and connecting with the outside world. That spirit of openness remains a cornerstone of Thailand today,” Anutin said.
Anutin contrasted the present with 1991, when Thailand last hosted the meetings. Fax machines had symbolised speed 35 years ago, he said, while artificial intelligence (AI) was now reshaping economies and geopolitics was changing the structure of global trade and investment.
Connecting markets, capital and human potential
Anutin identified intensifying climate change as another challenge that no country could address alone. Responding to these risks required cooperation, trust, free trade, access to technology and capital, and partnerships that allowed countries to learn from one another.
Thailand’s response, Anutin said, began with its familiar role as a connector: linking markets across regions, connecting capital with opportunities and bringing technology together with human potential. Thailand would also use mechanisms within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to strengthen cooperation with the wider international community.
Cooperation must create opportunities for people
“The meetings will come to an end, but the legacy of cooperation will endure,” Anutin said, asking what lasting contribution the Bangkok gathering should make to the world.
Anutin stressed that these connections must benefit people through business growth, skills development and opportunities that improve their lives.
Anutin invited the IMF, World Bank Group and partner countries to turn discussions into practical cooperation and capital into opportunities.
Decisions made in Bangkok should help build stronger economies and create better prospects for people, he said.
Returning to the historical comparison, Anutin said Ayutthaya had connected Thailand with the world centuries ago. Bangkok could now connect countries in pursuit of a shared goal: a more open and resilient global economy whose benefits reached people more widely.
