On 20 September 2010, Mr. Kasit Piromya, Minister of Foreign Affairs, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of the High-Level Meeting on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) at the United Nation General Assembly (UNGA) Hall, the United Nations Headquarters, New York. Later in the day, he attended the MDGs Roundtable session on “Addressing the challenge of poverty, hunger and gender equality” and the MDGs Summit Side Event organized by the four Regional Commissions of the UN under the theme “The MDGs: A Decade of Achievement and Challenges at the Regional Level”.
In his speech at the opening ceremony, Foreign Minister Kasit shared with the meeting experiences of Thailand towards the achievement of sustainable development by highlighting the importance of good governance to ensure that the population at large is benefiting from the Government’s development policy. Moreover, the Royal Thai Government had emphasized and undertaken a development policy that is people-centered focussing on human security and human development. Thailand has focused its development cooperation on three sectors, namely, agricultural development to ensure food safety, health service enhancement to ensure people’s wellness and access to health service, and human resource development to promote capacity building for individuals and SMEs development as means to ensure employment and job creation. Foreign Minister Kasit also reiterated that paradigm shift towards a more balanced, inclusive and green growth to ensure a sustainable development in all three pillars namely, economic development, social development and environmental protection.
Full text of FM Kasit's statement
During the MDGs Roundtable session, Foreign Minister Kasit referred to speech by UNCTAD Secretary-General, Dr. Supachai Panichaphak, which suggested that Thailand’s success in the development of its agricultural industry could well served as a model for other developing countries. Foreign Minister also gave examples of elements contributing to Thailand’s achievement through public sector development namely its basic infrastructure such as irrigation and transportation, as well as other public measures such as provision of loans for agricultural purposes and land reforms, in conjunction with active private sector development.
At the Regional Commission Meeting, Foreign Minister Kasit made an intervention stating the works and achievement of ASEAN towards the realization of the MDGs. He highlighted that ASEAN initiative as an important tool to close the development gap between the original six ASEAN members and the four new members, namely, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, especially in the areas of human resource and infrastructure development. Such cooperation had helped ease cross-border problems such as migration and human trafficking. In addition, ASEAN dialogue partners and other international institutions can also play key role in providing assistance to the new ASEAN members by providing aid in various forms. In particularly, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) can act as a resource institution with its pool of information and experiences as well as linking ASEAN and other regional cooperation, thereby providing overall connectivity between regions. Foreign Minister also stressed that good governance is crucial in combating corruption which can hinder development towards the achievement of the MDGs.
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