Statement by
H.E. Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra,
Prime Minister of Thailand
at the High-level Plenary Meeting
of the 60th Session of the General Assembly
New York, 16 September 2005
Mr. Co-President,
Mr. Secretary-General,
Distinguished Heads of States and Heads of Governments,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
At the outset, on behalf of the people of Thailand, let me express our deepest sympathy and condolences to all the people who suffered from the Hurricane Katrina. As we have experienced similar trauma because of the tsunami, our hearts are with you all the way for speedy recoveries.
Allow me also to congratulate you, Mr. President, on your election as President of the 60th Session of the General Assembly. Our profound appreciation also goes to the President of the 59th Session for the successful preparation of this Summit.
Mr. Co-President,
For many people, sixty is the time to retire. But far from that, the UN at sixty must be more rejuvenated, more strengthened or even reinvented in order to be a more effective, more efficient, more transparent and more accountable global body to serve the international community.
Our modern world of globalization demands a United Nations that is dynamic in outlook, flexible in structure, and firm in its commitment to the enduring ideals for which it was created.
After the Cold War, the world today is a significantly changed place, characterized by the pre-eminence of a single political and economic system of democracy and capitalism, which are two sides of the same coin.
It is generally recognized that capitalism, whose hallmark is free competition, provides the best opportunity for our peoples to pursue their dreams. However, free competition must also be fair. Unfortunately, not everyone is equally fit to race in the same free competition. I equate this situation with a patient, who has just been released from the Intensive Care Unit of a hospital, being forced to run a race under the same rules with a supremely fit athlete. It is a free competition, but is it also fair?
In Asia, in Latin America, and in Africa, poverty alleviation must remain at the top of our agenda to bring about human dignity, human rights, and human security, and to reduce injustice and conflicts, to reduce resentment and radicalism, and to combat violence and terrorism. However, as I have done in Thailand in the last few years, the progress of poverty alleviation resulted from the combination of the opening up of international market access and self-help.
The ability to take part in fair trade is the opportunity for a nation to help itself. To encourage self-help, international efforts must ensure that free competition goes together with fair competition. The Millennium Development Goals will not be achievable simply because of the internationally committed ODA percentage alone. It will depend as much on the ability of the international community to deliver a fairer system of world trade. This must be an agenda that the UN reform cannot ignore.
Mr. Co-President,
As enshrined in our Charter, it is “We the peoplesâ€
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