SET Executive Vice President, Mr. Punsak Vejanurug, who oversees the capital market education division, announced that the 2006 would be a challenging year with the introduction of new derivatives financial instruments in the Thai market. Furthermore the finance industry must also prepare for FTAs. The Thailand Securities Institute (TSI) will focus on educating all parties involved to help them better adapt to the two new additions to the financial sector, futures and options. TSI’s target is to reach at least 4.2 million people next year.
Mr. Punsak said, “We will utilize the networks of more than 100 capital market organizations and academic institutions to educate various segments of the society, including the Offices of the Basic, Vocational, Higher and Non-Formal Education Commissions; numerous universities, other training institutes, the Government Pension Fund, and banks.
“To reach youth, the TSI will work with the Ministry of Education to train teachers in schools under the supervision of the Office of the Basic Education Commission. This is part of the ongoing endeavor that started with 2005’s “Making Sense of Money” project, which will educate 100,000 teachers from 36,000 schools over a three-year period.
“We expect that, via the trained teachers, there will be about 7 million students taught during the next three years. Teachers who have already passed the course will also be able to attend refresher courses as well,” Mr. Punsak said.
In addition to training, the TSI provides e-Learning facilities in both CD-ROMs and via three websites (www.tsi-thailand.org, www.moe.go.th, and www.tkc.go.th.) Other activities will include a teaching media contest, a quiz game, awards for outstanding teachers, and further curriculum development for vocational students.
SET SVP and Director of the TSI, Ms. Jiraporn Koosuwan, added that its university education department would continue to expand its networking with universities across the country. There will be SET Corners established and memorandums of understanding signed to support the study of finance and investment in colleges. It is expected that, by 2008, more than one million students and lecturers in the universities will have learned more through the TSI’s seminars.
“TSI has held several activities for college students, such as the ‘TSI Investment Simulation’ and the ‘Young Researcher Competition’. The institute will also produce a career handbook to guide students who wish to pursue financial professions. This handbook will be completed in May 2006,” the SET’s SVP said.
The TSI will also improve the skills of industry professionals so that they will be better prepared for FTAs and the coming financial innovations. There will be specialized courses for marketing representatives and securities analysts, plus general training on financial innovations and other more complicated courses on derivatives and risk management. In an effort to collaborate with foreign partners, the TSI will first work with Australia’s Financial Services Institute of Australasia (Finsia). Overall the institute expects to train about 8,000 professionals.
As for investor education, the TSI will focus more on general courses and will continue to provide training, seminars, and e-Learning services. Approximately 7.5 million people are targeted through 2008.
“The TSI will also focus on reaching a wider range of audiences through the mass media, e.g., the Money Channel, radio programs, newspapers and magazines. It will also coordinate with public and private organizations to promote its e-Learning services. More publications, both for academics and students, will be published. Furthermore the institute will still be active in the investment promotion events, e.g., Money Expo and Thai Investors’ Days,” Ms. Jiraporn said.
In 2005, the TSI achieved its target of reaching 2.5 million people. About 1.6 million were students, over 0.8 million were members of the general public and nearly 20,000 people were professionals in the capital market.
