Specht Böhm hosted meetings in Vienna from May 13 – 17 with Mr. Pansak Vinyaratn, chief policy and economic advisor to the Prime Minister of Thailand. Clients were given the opportunity to talk with Mr. Pansak and discuss business plans involving ASEAN. During his visit, Mr. Pansak discussed the changing global economy and the need for ASEAN to create internal growth to foster trade within the member countries and in turn trade between Europe and ASEAN. He emphasized the necessity to develop a reliable and cost-effective infrastructure to increase the speed, reliability and ease of transportation for goods and people.  In particular, he mentioned the importance of transportation via rail, investments in which must be measured on long-term rather than short-term scales.  The current global economy, according to Mr. Pansak, demands that nations think innovatively and recognize what special items they can offer in the global market.  Once domestic consumption is satisfied, he said, there is a need to think beyond national borders and create goods for export. Given ASEAN’s growing population of consumers willing and able to buy European products, initiatives targeting trade and business exchanges between ASEAN and Europe have a very promising future.