On 27 April 2011, Mr. Kasit Piromya, Minister of Foreign Affairs, discussed with Mrs. Gwi-Yeop Son, United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative to Thailand, the issue of establishing development cooperation with UNDP, on the occasion of the latter’s completion of duty as UNDP Representative to Thailand.
The Foreign Minister said that Thailand’s cooperation with UNDP in the future would not require classical development, but needs to focus on the sharing of best practices in development and development cooperation in order to support Thailand in becoming a strong and mature democratic society, which prioritises civic participation and human resources development.
Mrs. Son agreed that the UNDP should focus on development cooperation with Thailand and that Thailand could benefit from learning about best practices of other countries with a healthy democratic system, such as the Republic of Korea. Mrs. Son praised Thailand’s development in the past years and added that cooperation between Thailand and UNDP could be used as a model for UNDP’s cooperation with other countries.
On the issue of using Thailand as a development model, the Foreign Minister proposed that UNDP promote Royal Projects as an alternative approach for development in least developed countries (LDCs). The Foreign Minister also proposed trilateral cooperation between Thailand, the UNDP and other countries. Cooperation should also be encouraged in the business sector, such as contract farming through Japanese investment, which helped to develop agricultural areas throughout the region.
In addition, Mrs. Son discussed future cooperation with Thailand in her new capacity in the Office of Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Mrs. Son praised Thailand’s disaster management during the Asian Tsunami disaster in 2004 and also praised Thailand’s humanitarian assistance which was clearly reflected in the humanitarian assistance provided by Thailand to the victims of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
For further information, please contact the Press Division, Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tel.02-6435170, Fax.02-6435169, E-mail: div0704@mfa.go.th