Before I encountered Teisuke Kitayama at the headquarters of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) in Tokyo, I was a little nervous given his stature as the recently retired chairman of Japan's second-largest lender. It was the last day of my two-week visit to Japan and I was eager to make the most of this final appointment before I flew out the next morning.
But my host soon put me at ease by asking where I planned to go shopping after the interview. Ginza, he told me, was where I could find anything I needed, and then he knelt down and pointed to a subway map to clearly explain how to get there from his office. Every senior executive should be this kind and down-to-earth, I thought.
The conversation with Mr Kitayama, now a senior adviser to the bank, was a pleasant one indeed, especially since he has always taken a keen interest in Thailand. In fact, he was stationed in Bangkok for two eventful years, leaving as previously scheduled just as the Tom Yum Goong financial crisis struck Asian countries in July 1997.
Thailand was just his second overseas assignment after New York. Even though his tenure in the country was short, Mr Kitayama's affection for Thailand remains strong today. His continuing interest is reflected in the positions he still holds today, including chairman of the Japan-Thailand Business Forum (JTBF) and the Japan Thailand Association (JTA).
Apart from working with the business communities of both countries, he is also a trustee at the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI), where he pursues a mission to work on educational reforms in both Thailand and Japan.
Inevitably, the conversation turned to Thai food and when I asked about his favourite dish, the answer was not something I expected.
"Among the Thai food I like is (fried) morning glory and khao man kai (chicken rice). You know the place near the World Trade Center (now renamed CentralWorld) where they wear the pink uniforms? I try to go to that khao man kai place every time I visit Thailand if I have time," he tells me.
Luckily, he doesn't have to come to Thailand to have that Thai favourite, though it costs him a bit more. "They have two of them in Tokyo. The same pink one and another one in Fukuoka. It started out with one in Tokyo near Shibuya. Then Fukuoka, then another one in Tokyo. It takes 10 minutes from here by car to reach and the price is around 850 yen (255 baht)."
The JTBF, of which Mr Kitayama is the second and current chairman, was established in 2002 by the Royal Thai Embassy and currently has 74 members serving as the voice of business organisations, not only banks but also those in trading and manufacturing such as Toyota Motor and Mitsubishi Corporation.
"We have been in close contact with the Thai embassy in Tokyo to work together to further enhance various relations between the two countries," he says. "There are some committees over here for Japanese SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) to make more investments in Thailand. We are also in close contact with the BoI (Board of Investment) and the TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand) offices in Tokyo and Bangkok for long-stay visits and tourism."
Encouraging more Japanese tourists to go to Thailand is one focus of the JTBF. About 1.5 million Japanese visit Thailand every year but that statistic doesn't tell the full story, he points out.
"It's quite a big number. The chairperson of the [JTBF tourism] committee said that about 80% of that number travel for business, so the proportion of genuine tourists is only 20%, or 300,000 out of 1.5 million. So more should be done to attract Japanese people for the purpose of tourism. That's why the JTBF every year takes four or five groups to visit local destinations, Isan (northeast) or the northern region and produces booklets for potential Japanese tourists for Thailand.
"I fortunately was able to have close contact with the Thai embassy, senior government officials and the private sector and Thai businessmen in the past 20 years. Those personal relationships have given me more affection toward Thailand," Mr Kitayama adds.
BACK ON A GOOD COURSE
The outlook for the country and the region today is in stark contrast to two decades ago, when the Japanese banker found himself caught up in momentous events.
Mr Kitayama recalls that on July 2, 1997 when Thailand floated the baht, he was preparing to leave Thailand two days later as his assignment with the bank had come to an end. Very early that morning, senior banking executives received phone calls from the Bank of Thailand (BoT) to come to the central bank for a meeting.
Mr Kitayama had already handed off his duties to his successor, who took the fateful call.
"That announcement was made on July 2 because July 1 was a bank holiday. I was still there but my successor was already there. It was around 4 or 5 o'clock in the morning and he was still at the hotel," he recalls.
"I was supposed to leave Bangkok on July 4, two days after. My successor went out but there was no company car because it was too early. So he called a cab and said, 'Bank of Thailand' but the taxi driver didn't understand English. He took him to somewhere near the Chao Phraya River."
When his successor managed to reach the BoT, another surprise awaited.
"The announcement (by the BoT) was made in Thai. Fortunately, the deputy general manager was Thai so she understood it. I was already preparing to pack to leave. I didn't learn about it until 8 or 9am that day."
The events that followed were a severe test for governments, bankers, businesspeople and citizens at large, but the region emerged stronger as a result.
"Certainly, the first three years -- 1997, 1998, 1999 -- were a very difficult time for Thailand but finally the economy recovered, thanks to the growth of the emerging economies of other countries in Asia," says Mr Kitayama.
Thailand bore the brunt of the impact, along with Indonesia and South Korea, but Japan was also affected given its close trading and financial relationships with countries in the region. But thanks to their own efforts as well as aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international organisations, as well measures taken by central banks including the Bank of Japan to support liquidity in the region, the wounds began to heal.
"Now, the sourness of those financial crises is an issue of the past," says Mr Kitayama. "Ups and downs are inevitable but fundamentally the recovery of the economy in Southeast Asia including Thailand has been very stable. Politically it is another story."
Debt levels, despite concerns raised by some experts about the banking sector, are relatively low today when compared with two decades ago. Back then, non-performing loan (NPL) ratios were as high as 20-40% of total credit at some institutions, says Mr Kitayama. These days, bankers fret if NPLs start to approach 3%.
"To compare it with those crucial times, the current situation is quite healthy," he notes.
"When I look at the global scene right now, the US is on a gradual stable growth path. European economies are still in a difficult time but seem to be making a gradual recovery. The Asian region has been influenced by global economic conditions and it is a still a growing region. And when I see the figures from the Asean countries, trade and investment in the region have been on a growth path, as have figures outside Asean including Japan and China.
"We look at Asean as quite an attractive destination to the private sector. In the coming 10 years, more and more investments for infrastructure in the region including Thailand are being planned, so further growth of the economy is quite hopeful in the coming years."
The banking sector in Thailand and other Asean countries, meanwhile, could possibly see further integration or consolidation, the same as happened in Japan earlier. The demographic shift, with the problems of an ageing and decreasing population, which Japan is already experiencing, will also weigh on Asean economies in the coming years.
"To avoid the middle-income trap, Thailand should undertake several measures including upgrading industry, further enhancing the education system and also social security. Many countries are making efforts to overcome the challenges," says Mr Kitayama.
"I do hope Thailand will be able to tackle various difficult issues, not only industrial changes as I mentioned, but also education matters. Maybe 10 years after Japan, Thailand is going to be facing an ageing society and population decline. Educational reform is an issue for Japan right now in addition to economic reforms. Thailand is in the same situation."
CAT LOVER
During the interview, Mr Kitayama speaks Thai from time to time, including when I ask him what he does to relieve stress.
"My belief is 'where there is a will, there is a way', so even when I experience great stress, I try to think positively," he says. "There should be some kind of solution. Not 100% but 80% or 70%. There should be a solution. It's mai pen rai (no worries. I'm okay)."
Like many other Japanese, Mr Kitayama also likes to unwind by playing golf, especially in Thailand where the cost is much cheaper than in Japan. "My score is not so good but it's quite pleasant to go outside and stay out for four to five hours, especially in the dry season."
And while he has no other hobbies to speak of, what really helps the executive to relax is his cat name Aby, so named because she is an Abyssinian breed.
"One and a half years ago, I started to keep a cat, a kitten, at home. Every weekend and after I got back from the bank in the evening, I'd play with her. She doesn't like to go out," he says.
These days, according to Mr Kitayama, cats in Japan outnumber dogs but both dogs and cats are quite popular among the Japanese.
"When I was single, up until the time I got married, my family kept the dog in the house, a small dog and I stayed with him all the time.
"When my wife asked me two years ago whether we should keep a dog or a cat, I said I liked dogs more than cats. And she said to me, 'Can you promise that every day, you will take the dog out to walk?' I said, 'Every day? I think every day may be impossible but I'll try,'" he says with a laugh.
"Since I said so, my wife decided on a cat rather than a dog. So it's the first time in my life that I've had a cat. I play with her every day. And every morning the cat comes into my room, comes into my bed and sleeps for one and a half hours. Before that she sleeps with my wife. Then early in the morning, she suddenly comes into my bed to stay with me."
The conversation was winding down and it was time for me to leave. But before we parted I asked his staff to take a picture of us, as a memento of one of the kindest executives I've ever interviewed. With his gracious manners and mai pen rai ease, he had me missing Thailand and ready to go home.
