Mr Chairman,
Mr President,
Distinguished Governors,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is an honour for me to be here on behalf of the Governor of Thailand, Mr Petipong, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives of Thailand, and to represent the Royal Thai Government to the 25th Anniversary Session of IFAD Governing Council.

My intervention will be very brief. I would only like to highlight Thailand’s 25 years experience in working to enable Thai rural poor to overcome their poverty and to introduce to you our present initiatives.

The Thai experience in enabling the rural poor to overcome their poverty started in 1982, thanks to a pilot project for the development of small-scale farmers. The project was jointly co-ordinated by FAO and IFAD and co-funded by the Government of The Netherlands, to whom we express our gratitude.

Since our first start in 1982, we up-scaled the pilot project nationwide.

Until today, the “Small-scale Farmers Development Project” is a standing item on the agenda of the five years “National Economic and Social Development Plan”of the Government of Thailand.

As already mentioned by the Thai delegation last year, “war on poverty” is one of the priority policies of the Government of Thailand.

Further to the “Debt Restructuring Scheme for Small-scale Farmers” and the “One Million Baht Village Fund”, the Thai Government launched two more initiatives aimed at increasing the income of the rural poor: the “One Village – One Product” initiative and the “People’s Bank” initiative.

The “One Village – One Product” program is based on the wisdom and guidance of His Majesty the King Bhumibol Adullyadej, our most revered Monarch.

His Majesty simply suggests that family sufficiency will be followed by community sufficiency and, finally, by national sufficiency.

The program aims to assist every village to develop and to market their own local products based on traditional expertise and local know-how.

The initiative has helped to foster innovation, creativity and trading skills which will in turn improve productivity in the domestic market and eventually the global market place.

Today the program has been implemented widely with extraordinary success.

The “People’s Bank” program has been established with the aim of providing low interest loans for family businesses and small entrepreneurs. The program already assists a wide variety of people, ranging from street vendors to store owners. Support for this initiative has come from the Government Savings Bank.

The implementation of these programs has proved successful at the grassroots level but think it necessary to recall this audience that a supportive international economic environment is vital if the programs are going to have a significant and widespread impact on sustainable poverty alleviation.

In conclusion, the Thai delegation would like to assure the President of IFAD and all Governors that the Government of Thailand fully supports IFAD regional strategy for Rural Poverty Reduction in Asia and the Pacific.

Thank you.

by Mr Pote Chumsri Permanent Representative of Thailand to FAO and World Food Programme and
Acting Governor of Thailand to IFAD

Mr Chairman,
Mr President,
Distinguished Governors,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is an honour for me to be here on behalf of the Governor of Thailand, Mr Petipong, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives of Thailand, and to represent the Royal Thai Government to the 25th Anniversary Session of IFAD Governing Council.

My intervention will be very brief. I would only like to highlight Thailand’s 25 years experience in working to enable Thai rural poor to overcome their poverty and to introduce to you our present initiatives.

The Thai experience in enabling the rural poor to overcome their poverty started in 1982, thanks to a pilot project for the development of small-scale farmers. The project was jointly co-ordinated by FAO and IFAD and co-funded by the Government of The Netherlands, to whom we express our gratitude.

Since our first start in 1982, we up-scaled the pilot project nationwide.

Until today, the “Small-scale Farmers Development Project” is a standing item on the agenda of the five years “National Economic and Social Development Plan”of the Government of Thailand.

As already mentioned by the Thai delegation last year, “war on poverty” is one of the priority policies of the Government of Thailand.

Further to the “Debt Restructuring Scheme for Small-scale Farmers” and the “One Million Baht Village Fund”, the Thai Government launched two more initiatives aimed at increasing the income of the rural poor: the “One Village – One Product” initiative and the “People’s Bank” initiative.

The “One Village – One Product” program is based on the wisdom and guidance of His Majesty the King Bhumibol Adullyadej, our most revered Monarch.

His Majesty simply suggests that family sufficiency will be followed by community sufficiency and, finally, by national sufficiency.

The program aims to assist every village to develop and to market their own local products based on traditional expertise and local know-how.

The initiative has helped to foster innovation, creativity and trading skills which will in turn improve productivity in the domestic market and eventually the global market place.

Today the program has been implemented widely with extraordinary success.

The “People’s Bank” program has been established with the aim of providing low interest loans for family businesses and small entrepreneurs. The program already assists a wide variety of people, ranging from street vendors to store owners. Support for this initiative has come from the Government Savings Bank.

The implementation of these programs has proved successful at the grassroots level but think it necessary to recall this audience that a supportive international economic environment is vital if the programs are going to have a significant and widespread impact on sustainable poverty alleviation.

In conclusion, the Thai delegation would like to assure the President of IFAD and all Governors that the Government of Thailand fully supports IFAD regional strategy for Rural Poverty Reduction in Asia and the Pacific.

Thank you.