Mr. Sansern Wongcha-um, Secretary-General of NESDB disclosed that the National Economic and Social Advisory Council bill was approved by the Parliament and is presently in the process of Royal signature before announcement in the gazette. Meanwhile, the seminar is now being prepared to promote common understanding about the law, especially the process of recruiting the NESAC members. The seminar will be held on December 21, 2000 at the Prince Ballroom, Prince Palace Hotel.
The Secretary-General stated that the draft NESAC bill consists of 3 sections; namely, section 1 relating to members of NESAC, section 2 concerning duties and responsibilities, section 3 relating to implementation and additional issues. In essence, the NESAC consists of 99 persons chosen from the representatives in the economic, social and grassroot sectors as well as aca-demics. The Office of the National Economic and Social Advisory Council is an organization to reflect on economic and social problems, not the agency to bargain for the benefits of people or groups. Its roles and responsibilities are to provide guidance and recommendations on economic and social problems to the cabinet, and give suggestions on Economic and Social Delelopment Plan and other required by law.
The committee for recruiting the NESAC members consists of 21 members from several agencies. The committee is chaired by the Chairman of the National Economic and Social Development Board. Its duty is to choose the NESAC members. The recruitment process of the NESAC members will be made known in December 2000.
Regarding the implementation, the Office of the National Economic and Social Advisory Council is responsible for surveying, studying and analyzing the matters to be presented to the NESAC for consideration as well as undertaking public affairs and annual reports concerning the performance and constraints in implementation of NESAC as to be presented to the cabinet and the parliament. In addition to the selection of the NESAC members, it is responsible for any other activities assigned by the NESAC. In this matter, it is directed by the Secretary-General of NESAC, under the supervision of the Chairman of NESAC. At the initial stage, the NESDB will be responsible for NESAC. After 2 Years, for declaring the act, the Office of NESAC will be established to undertake the tasks of the NESAC.
Regarding the possible duplication of the role of NESAC and NESDB and other agencies, the Secretary-General clarified that the NESDB, the Office of National Education Commission and the National Research Council of Thailand will undertake the administrative tasks concerning technical and plannign roles for the government. But the NESAC is the agency of the people which reflects the thinking and aspirations of the people concerning government implementation based on the basic policy guidelines of the government.
In conclusion, the NESAC is responsible for coordination of the development between government and people sector in order to promote understanding and mutual benefits in creating society and strengthening capabilities in every part and level of society, including individual, society, business, comunity, publi sector and political sector. In this regard, good governance and partnership for administration as well as equity rights should be promoted.
Development News Bulletin, National Economic and Social Development Board, Volume 15, No. 11 : November 2000 End.
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