Opening speech of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva at the 2010 annual meeting of the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board on “11th National Economic and Social Development Plan” at IMPACT Exhibition and Convention Center, Muang Thongthani, Nonthaburi, on Friday 6 August 2010, 08.45 hrs.

Their Excellencies Deputy Prime Minister and Ministers,

Chairman of the National Economic and Social Development Board,

Distinguished guests,

I am very delighted to inaugurate the 2010 annual meeting of the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board on the “11th National Economic and Social Development Plan”. The plan will be implemented by October of next year and it is very important, as it guides the direction of the country’s development in the 5 years ahead, from 2012-2017. It also specifies development strategies in order to handle new problems arising from domestic and international affairs, and will lay the foundation of the country’s development to a sustainable and happy society. 

I attended this type of meeting last year and the initiation of the “11th National Economic and Social Development Plan” was mentioned.  Challenges of the Thai economy and society in the next 5-6 years were discussed and the issue has led to today’s meeting. The topics were chosen from last year’s problems and challenges faced.  The initiation process of the 11th Plan will be continually operated until approximately the middle of the next year, before being carried out within the Constitution and relevant laws, and receive Cabinet approval.  I would like to use this opportunity to address some important issues, which I think it will benefit today’s seminar both in the morning and afternoon sessions. 

The first issue needed to be emphasized is that the organization of the past national economic and social development plans, as well as other development plans, will have to give importance to the process of public participation.  From past experiences, we have found out that since the first plans were implemented approximately 50 years ago, we succeeded in development of specific areas, until recently, we admitted that the development process will cause certain widespread impact.  For example, the economic development will impact social issues and environmental problems, etc.  Recently, the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board and relevant individuals has given great importance to the participation of various sectors in the society. This is the main point that will lead to a development plan capable of responding to questions, and enabling us to face through challenges effectively.  The video shown a moment ago clearly stated that destroyed social foundations were important issues of conflict, some people thought of it as a political conflict.  However, it is undeniable that the conflict also has a foundation from unequal development, in terms of economy and society. 

Thus, present day discussions about the process that would lead to reconciliation has emphasized on the reform process.  The organization of this plan in terms of content and method is considered to be very important in achieving reform.  As for the content, we will have to work together in the year ahead.  The process will also mean a great deal to the reform success if we can have every sector participate in regulating the country’s direction and exchanging information, as various times their opinions are different, in order to reach resolution and unity in direction.  That will be the best guarantee for the success of reform and reconciliation.  Therefore, I would like to thank the effort of the office and relevant individuals, as well as today’s organizers that have provided every sector with opportunities to truly participate in the development plan. 

As for the issue of the plan’s content, which a lot of questions were raised last year, it must be admitted that the past year has shown the speed and fluctuation in the economy of the world and Thailand, excluding the political conflict and social problems.  Last year many sides were still worried about the economic crisis which impacted and contracted the Thai economy.  However, we can see that this year the strong foundation of Thailand’s economy has revived faster than many expected. A lot of worries about problems such as unemployment were overcome and the situation now has totally turned upside down.  The first half of the year, the Thai economy expanded to be 10%, a very high rate, and the export or the growth of economic sectors including agriculture, industry, and the attention continually received from foreign investments confirm that we have faced through this crisis. These implementations were also done without the use of much resource.  The high amount of borrowing from the government sector, as planned, indicated that not only have we made it through the crisis, we also have quickly adjusted conditions to return to normalcy. 

This Monday, I will have a permanent secretary meeting, which is conducted monthly, and the Ministry of Finance and the Bureau of the Budget will sign an agreement or MOU on their cooperation in returning to a balanced budget in the next 5 years.  This is an indicator that we must move forward and speed up the return of normalcy of the economy or the financial status.  As for the main points to be addressed in this seminar as well as the issue of regulations directing the economic and social development plan, I would like to address them in the next topic.   However, before discussing the issues I would like to remind that I have discussed with the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board several times about the economic development or the economic development plan that are often referred to only as “economy”, while it really means “economy and society”.         I think that for the 11th plan, clarity in economic and social development reform must be found.  When facing challenges happening in the current world, whether they are about the environment or knowledge-based economy, there can be no success if only economic perception is taken into account and without social perception.  This reform is the key in every question raised and will be discussed in the seminar this afternoon.

The first point I would like to remind is that the Sufficiency Economy philosophy is about philosophy, and not projects.  Thus, in every topic that is to be brainstormed and to help regulate the plan’s direction, the sufficiency economy philosophy must be used all the times, used as the reason, sufficiency, and immunity against various risks.  This will be in accordance with our support in the process of participation and power distribution because if everything is based on the foundation, then the guarantee on sufficiency, reason, and immunity against risks will be greater.   

The second issue needed to be reminded is that the most important and valuable resources are humans, as the heart of development.  I would like to emphasize on the 2 sections relating to humans of the 11th plan.  The first part is human stability and the second is human knowledge and ability to develop, as well as morality.  This must be addressed because the 2 sections will be very important in the process of creating justice and equality within the society, especially within the fluctuating economy and amidst great changes.  As for the second issue, if we cannot develop human resources then problems that we have seen will occur, whether it is about the loss of potential in competition and about conflict.  The problems will then continue to exist.

As for the issue of human stability, during the past year it can be seen that the government has given special emphasis on the issue.  Policies, projects, and measures relevant to the support of human stability were pushed forward.  
There has been an effort to give knowledge and promote readiness for people who are about to have families, children, students, career possession, income insurance whether in the sectors of agriculture or industry, as well as supporting the disabled, special needs individuals and old people.

What I would like to repeat is that in the 11th plan, which will end in 2016, we must set a goal to make the Thai welfare system clear regarding the Thai people’s location, birth, and the basic insurance about the treatment since birth till death.  The welfare system is not a system that only the state provides, but it must be sustainable in terms of finance.  This means that pension will occur when opportunities are opened for the public to contribute and participate.  What the Thai people should be able to receive in 2016 is this insurance as well as the confidence in the government, with indicating data and numbers on hand.  The government must look at the trends of the change in population, whether the welfare system can remain sustainable without impacting financial status, or causes problems like in many countries. This is especially important because if we can create this insurance regime by 2016, I believe it will be an important part in reducing injustice and conflicts.

In addition to income security, there are still conflicts regarding land, housing, basic services and debts. I think what is needed to be included in the National Economic and Social Development Plan is a concrete principle in dealing with the problems. The principles have to be in unity with the main idea in terms of community deeds, home security, and other related issues in relation to debt problems. I believe all of these issues have an influence on the confidence in the security of the people’s future. If new problem-solving principles, which have been introduced, are accepted, we can move forward systematically. This will be very important.In the second part, people’s development in terms of knowledge, capability, and education reform in the second decade will be a vital process. Thus, it should be linked with the National Economic and Social Development Plan. The goal in reforming the education system in the second decade is clear, by increasing the quality of education throughout life. The process ranges from curriculum changes to system integration, in line with economic and social needs. This is the heart of the reform which is the important foundation for the enhancement of knowledge-based economy or the creative economy in the future. As a result, laying the foundation for people-oriented plans in terms of security and potential development must be considered as a priority, in order to bring forth an effective economic and social development plan.Secondly, we need a clear plan in continually supporting various basic infrastructures. Regardless of the achievements of issues such as electrical service which has already been covered in almost all areas, there are still other basic services that are deemed inadequate and insufficient for the fellow citizens. For instance, regarding water for consumption, the goal and time frame should be clearly set as to how the service is provided. As for water for agriculture, it is the solution to food and energy security problems when we have to increase productivity in the agricultural sector to meet the rising demands. As a result, this increases Thailand’s potential in becoming a world leader in solving the food and energy problems.In addition to the water issue, transportation is another issue in the next 5-6 years that should be pushed forward in a more concrete way. So far, we give importance to the mass transit system in Bangkok and its vicinity. From now on the rail transportation system throughout the country will be initiated, including the use of rails and roads in linking with the neighboring countries. This is necessary to define a clear goal. Currently, the government has approved the investment plan worth 2 billion baht (venture capital excluded) for the rail system during the 5-6 year period. The project is now under the feasibility study, for example, the Chinese government’s high-speed trains with dual tracks are the standard rails that will link Nong Khai with the southern border provinces. The issue is related to investment in infrastructures and logistics. It will be an essential factor in the development of quality and competitive ability.Most definitely, in relation to the enhancement of Thailand’s competitive ability to accommodate changes in information technology, whether it is about 3G, people can now have better access to the information technology. The gap between urban and rural people is being reduced. It has been another important goal in introducing the infrastructure and technology to fellow citizens, so that opportunities and equality can be achieved.The next issue that I need to emphasize is the goal regarding human development and infrastructure development. In order to achieve them, the form of management such as decentralization and community participation is very important.  The improvement of regulations and most of all, the promotion of good governance are taken into consideration as well. Today there are still laws and rules impeding the development. The procedure to cancel or edit them is time-consuming. Therefore, the collection of regulations, initial legal orders, and reference plans that are in line with the legislation characteristic over the next 4-5 years should play a crucial role in rendering the process of development in the future.At the same time, on the issue of good governance, it has to be accepted that, other than the problems of conflict and violence that ruined our society values in the past, there is a problem of corruption that remains a major obstacle to our society. In countering this problem, while we have laws and independent agencies to eradicate corruption, as time goes by, we have been evaluated to fare worse in the corruption index. Thus, the procedure set up to counter corruption should now be incorporated into the National Economic and Social Development Plan to ensure good governance, which will serve as the heart of the next stage of development. Lastly, I would like to reiterate to you that, when you look in the long term, other than several problems we have addressed and seen as challenges, there are also international competitions, food security, and energy security. It is crucial that improvements made to the development process must be centred around fairness, balance and environmental friendliness in the future. These are the issues that have to be initiated and can be rooted into the principles and procedure of future development. We have to do away with the idea that ‘development in one aspect should be given priority first, and consequences can be dealt with later’. Map Ta Put serves as a lesson, so do many other issues. I personally think it must be made clear that any planning must not take a stance of “do it first and relieve later”. Development has to be an environmental friendly process that promotes the concept of fairness or the goals that we set from the beginning. I have been closely following up the work of several agencies, during the last one year. It appears that they are more inclined to accept the facts. For instance, we are evaluating the development in the southern region, and it indicates that we are being prudent. We will not proceed and take care of the side effects later. Instead, we will proceed with the participation from all stakeholders, not just with economic interests. All sides have to come to a point where new equilibrium can be obtained, and it is where development can peacefully coexist with the communities and the environment. If we could do so, we would be able to reduce the conflicts that are ruining the country's competitiveness and social cost. All the issues I have addressed are likely to be included in further discussions to be held today and during the whole year, leading to the date of the announcement for the effective date of the 11th National Economic and Social Development Plan. However, what we have to do in parallel is not only to set a goal or to think in terms of defining strategy, projects, or measures, but to promote values and conscience that will assist the efforts to achieve the goal. We have to begin this process from now on. If we want to at least attempt to achieve many things that we have been talking about or what I have addressed today, but if many people’s values, conscience, culture, or way of life, are not really compatible with the objectives, we will not be able to succeed. This is a difficult task and a hard work. The government alone will not be able to do it. It needs participation from the press, from the people and from communities. Cooperation cannot be obtained if there is no understanding of the urgency and the content that leads to the setting up of national development goal.   

Once again, I have to reiterate that the work on content is important, but the process, to unfold throughout the next one year, will be absolutely vital in creating an effective plan that will eventually lead us to success. Now, as it is auspicious time, I open the 2010 annual meeting of the Office of National Economic and Social Development Board, on “Direction for the 11th Economic and Social Development Plan.”  

Lastly, I wish you all the success that you hope for. Thank you.