Annual Report 2017

9 Once becoming our listed companies, SET continues to closely supervise the quality of information disclosure as well as to actively educate and promote the adoption of best-practiced operations and sustainable business models. In particular, SET has strongly encouraged companies to adopt the considerations of environmental, social and governance (ESG) aspects for sustainable business growth. This has resulted in the selection of 17 Thai listed companies as constituents of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI), the highest in ASEAN. SET sees its role in the regional and international arena as conducive to promoting Thailand’s and regional capital market growth. Close to home, SET has continued to cooperate closely with stock exchanges in the CLMV countries on knowledge-based projects for developing regional capital markets. To promote the international recognition of the Thai business sector and capital market, SET hosted the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE)’s 57 th Annual Meeting in 2017, following the SET President’s representation as the WFE Board of Directors. Earlier in 2018, Thailand Futures Exchange (TFEX), jointly with the Association of Futures Markets (AFM), also hosted the 21 st AFM Annual Conference, during which TFEX was selected as an AFM committee member. These regional and global accomplishments have demonstrated SET’s firm commitment to excellence by international standards in all areas of exchange operations. In this context, SET received a number of prestigious awards, namely the “Best Sustainable Securities Exchange of Southeast Asia Emerging Markets 2017” by the London-based Capital Finance International magazine; the 2nd Runner-up Green Building Award from ASEAN Energy Awards 2017; the top 10 of world stock markets for the sustainability disclosure of listed companies according to the research studies on “Measuring Sustainability Disclosure 2017” conducted by Corporate Knights and AVIVA; and recently, the “Best Central Securities Depository in Southeast Asia 2017” granted to Thailand Securities Depository Co., Ltd. (TSD) by Alpha Southeast Asia, an international media firm. To strengthen competitiveness in the digital world, SET has taken big steps forward to become a digital exchange Kesara Manchusree President and workplace, embracing digital technology in all facets of operations. These consisted of developing digital services, including Digital IPO, Digital Report, e-Learning Channel, and investment applications such as SET App, Settrade App, and Settrade Streaming for Fund, as well as SET social media serving 1.5 million retail investors with convenient, quick and secure access to information. With the increasing number of retail investors, the proportion of retail to institutional investors’ trading volume has remained in good balance at 48:52, respectively. This also reflected the continued stable growth of institutional investor base, promoted by regular informative roadshows and expanding access channels. On newbusiness innovation, SET has worked to support up-and-coming startups entrepreneurs and SMEs by developing the LiVE platform as a new channel for fundraising. It has also initiated FundConnext to provide investors with efficient access to a variety of mutual funds, along with the new Settrade Streaming for Fund application enabling investors to conveniently trade mutual funds via smart phones. To align with leading global exchanges, SET has already moved to a two-day settlement cycle (T+2) inaugurated on March 2, 2018, being considered one of the leaders in ASEAN to pioneer this. Needless to say that the achievements of SET as outlined above were the result of a great mix of vision, efforts, and cooperation among all our stakeholders. This is in line with the SET’s vision “To Make the Capital Market ‘Work’ for Everyone”, based on the synergy of the SET management teams and employees, and especially the strong support from stakeholders in the capital market over the past 43 years. We firmly believe that The Stock Exchange of Thailand, built upon a solid foundation, will serve as a stable and sustainable capital market for Thailand’s prosperous economy and happy society, which will in turn contribute positively to the global economy.