Statement
by
H.E.
Dr. Surakiat Sathirathai,
Minister
of Foreign Affairs of Thailand
at
the Luncheon held at upon the occasion of
Ministerial
Meeting of the Tenth Summit
of the Francophonie
Ouagadougou,
Burkina Faso
24 November 2004
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Your Excellency Monsieur Youssouf Ouedraogo, Minister of
State and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation
of Burkina Faso,
On behalf of the Thai delegation, I would like to congratulate
H.E. Monsieur Youssouf Ouedraogo, Minister of State and
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation of
Burkina Faso, on assuming the Chairmanship of the Ministerial
Meeting of the tenth summit of the Francophonie. I am honoured
by the kind invitation to speak at this distinguished luncheon
gathering.
Excellencies,
Thailand
is no stranger to the French language. In 1685, King Narai
the Great of Siam received Chevalier de Chaumont, the first
French envoy from King Louis XIV of France. Since
then, French has always been a familiar language at the
Siamese Royal Court. Today, this language
of law and diplomacy – not to mention romance and other
arts – continues to enjoy a great number of admirers in
our country. It is widely taught after English and forms
an integral part of Thailand’s high school curriculum.
French, a living heritage of diverse cultures, is guardian
of universal conscience of mankind. In a similar manner,
the Francophonie, by embodying such values as fraternity,
tolerance and universality of democracy, represents the
noblest aspirations of the human spirit.
The Francophonie is an example of a partnership not only of South-South
but also North-South cooperation. It serves as a forum to
exchange information, share experiences, and enhance cooperation
to form coordinated responses to global threats and challenges.
An immediate challenge for the international community is
to provide a better livelihood for the peoples and to promote
sustainable development.
Excellencies,
Thailand
shares the same goals and aspirations of the Francophonie
in promoting sustainable development. We have been actively
working to build and promote partnership at every level,
be they between governmental and private sectors, government
and civil society. I wish to share my thoughts on Thailand’s experience
in promoting sustainable development, through three dimensions,
which embrace the concepts of self-help, regional and inter-regional
partnership and global cooperation within the multilateral
system.
Firstly, sustainable development begins at home. Thailand firmly
believes that sustainable development must address the domestic
economy, particularly at the grassroots level while pursuing
the outward oriented economic approach. In other words,
the empowerment of the local peoples and their communities
contribute greatly to the strengthening of our capacity
for long-term sustainable development. We are guided by
the philosophy of the "Sufficiency Economy", developed
by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej over many years of
study and experimentation to enable Thai farmers, who form
the backbone of the national economy, to take chart of their
own destiny. According to the “Sufficiency Economy”, farmers
must be able to stand on their own feet, realize and understand
the importance of environmental conservation. This step-by-step
developmental approach has contributed greatly in the enhancement
of sustainable agriculture, economic growth and competitiveness.
To share some of the lessons we learned, Thailand recently
held an international ministerial conference on the “Sufficiency
Economy” philosophy as an approach to alternative development.
Several Francophone countries were represented at the conference,
and we would welcome the opportunity for a similar exchange
with others interested partners.
Secondly, Thailand
has fully recovered from the financial crisis of 1997. Last
year we achieved 6.7 percent GDP growth and our economy
continues to be healthy. We are therefore looking beyond
ourselves to our neighbours in forging partnerships to reduce
development gaps and foster harmony based on the “prosper
thy neighbours” principle. We formed with our immediate
neighbours an Economic Cooperation Strategy to promote shared
prosperity namely, Cambodia, Laos,
Myanmar,
and most recently, Vietnam. We are
also seeking partnership through regional integration. We
have been actively engaging with Southeast Asian countries
as we move towards an ASEAN Community. In addition, ASEAN
is building bridges across Asia
by consolidating strength from diversity under the Asia
Cooperation Dialogue or ACD framework. Initiated by Thailand
in 2002, the forum now comprises 26 members.
Thailand
is building strategic partnership with fellow developing
countries beyond Asia in Africa, Latin America and the South
Pacific Islands.
We reaffirm our commitment to building bridges across the
South and therefore supporting the New Partnership for African
Development (NEPAD), based on the principles of self-help,
ownership and partnership. We stand ready to enhance technical
cooperation with Africa
in the fields of human security, human development and poverty
reduction through bilateral, trilateral and regional arrangements.
Thirdly, it is our conviction that the building blocks for sustained
growth and development need to be reinforced through global
partnership. South-South cooperation should complement North-South
cooperation in order to contribute to the achievement of
the internationally agreed targets of the UN Millinneum
Development Goals or MDGs. The concept of global partnership
is incorporated under Goal Eight of the MDGs. This principle
was reiterated at such
international conferences as Financing for Development,
the World Summit on Sustainable Development, and the World
Summit on Information Society. So far, Thailand has made
much progress in achieving the MDGs, particularly towards
the promotion of the 8th Goal of Global Partnership
for Development aimed at sharing growth and prosperity through
trade, investment, and financial assistance.
For global partnership to be meaningful, we need to reinvigorate
the multilateral system by strengthening the United Nations
and the WTO to address the development agenda. We need strong
multilateral institutions to effectively meet global challenges
that undermine sustainable development.
Excellencies,
We share all of the objectives of the Francophonie. We want to
stand with our French-speaking friends in addressing our
common challenges and strengthening our partnership with
the Francophonie. We would like to exchange experiences and best practices
with you on sustainable development in the areas of education,
technical and scientific cooperation, as well as people-centered
development and human security. Furthermore, as the world’s
largest exporter of rice and the world’s fourth food exporting
country, Thailand
would like to enter into technical cooperation with Francophonie
countries, especially developing Francophonie countries,
in modernizing their agricultural bases.
One of the most pressing challenges we all face is the scourge
of HIV/AIDS and other epidemics. The World Health Organization
cited Thailand as one
of the successful cases in reducing and controlling the
HIV/AIDS population. For this reason, Thailand
was honoured to host the 15th International AIDS
Conference in Bangkok this past July.
The Conference attended by over 30,000 participants marked
a milestone in the fight against AIDS. Leaders from every
sector of society were present, including the United Nations
Secretary-General and Government leaders from many Francophone
members. Thailand
is already sharing our successful experiences with a number
of Francophone countries in Asia.
Earlier this week, my Prime Minister informed the 21 leaders of
the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation or APEC meeting held
in Chile that Thailand is committed to donating one million
US dollars per annum for 5 consecutive years to the Global
Fund against HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis. His announcement
was supported by U.S. President Bush who pledged to match
one-third of the Global Fund. Thailand is also developing affordable
HIV anti-retrovirals or GPO-VIR which will be made available
to all Thais living with HIV/AIDS and to the neighbouring
countries. My Prime Minister encouraged the developed economies
of APEC to purchase GPO-VIR at its production cost to be
distributed to economies in need and to manufacture generic medicine. We hope to extend this
type of partnership with the Francophone friends.
Excellencies,
I sincerely believe that through our active participation in the
Francophonie and by exchanging our experiences in development
Thailand can be
a useful and effective partner with our
Francophonie friends. It is in this spirit that I
am attending this meeting. We can work together to advance
peace, understanding and tolerance
in this diversified world. Thailand stands ready to join hands
with the Francophonie as a friend and partner to achieve
our common aspiration and hopes to receive your valuable
support for our application as Observer of the Francophonie.
Thank you for your kind attention.
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