Resident Coordinator's Remarks at the Signing of the Statement of Commitment to Sustainable Thailand by the Provincial Governors of Thailand

Permanent Secretary Khun Suttipong, Dr. Wandee, Esteemed Governors, distinguished officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand and Ministry of Interior, Under-Secretary-General Ibu Armida, UN heads of agencies, and friends,

It is a great honour to welcome you to the United Nations Conference Center in this landmark meeting, for the first time bringing together all 76 Governors and the Ministry of Interior with the whole UN in Thailand.

Thank you all for joining us and for your commitment to work together for a more sustainable and prosperous Thailand, including every province in national development.

Last year, we marked Thailand’s 75th anniversary as a member of the United Nations. The UN deeply values our partnership and sees a great future working together in coming years.

Thailand’s vision of prosperity and development shows true leadership on sustainability. Inspired by the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy, the Bio-Circular Green model and the SDGs are at the heart of development.

The UN system strongly supports this vision through our international networks of partners, technical and policy expertise, and technology transfer.

The UN also recognizes that each province is unique. In my recent meetings with the Governors of Chonburi and Samut Prakan, I learned a lot about the specific situations and challenges to achieve sustainability.

Already the UN has helped to introduce the best available technology for steel and aluminum industries reducing carbon emissions by 6% and cutting production costs, in a pilot project that can be scaled up across other industries and provinces.

Waste management assessments across 20 hotspots nationwide point to the urgency of leveraging technology and raising awareness to promote recovery and recycling, to ease pressure on landfills and encourage the private sector to take a larger role.

Using chemical fingerprinting technologies, the UN is also keen to support province-level action plans to address sources of air pollution.

And we have made steady progress in protecting endangered species, in sustainable tourism and smart agriculture to reduce food waste, which has great potential given that nearly 50% of farmers are already using digital technologies.

Your leadership as Governors is essential to make the vision of the SDGs a reality and implement solutions that improve people’s lives, contributing to Thailand’s success as a whole.

The Statement of Commitment marks the beginning of stronger and more comprehensive collaboration between your provincial administrations and the UN in Thailand.

We look forward to meeting with all of you on a regular basis and to come together again next year to evaluate our progress to do more collectively. We also want to make sure that all your spouses are able to attend the next meeting, recognizing that they are also leaders on development.

By combining our complementary strengths, together we can achieve our shared goal for Thailand to become a high-income, inclusive, sustainable, resilient and advanced country.

Thank you again to Permanent Secretary Khun Suttipong, Dr. Wandee and each of you, as leaders of all 76 provinces, for your commitment today.

I look forward to a long and fruitful partnership in the years ahead.