Statement by H.E. General Prayut Chan-o-Cha (Ret.)
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand
at the UN Food Systems Summit

23 September 2021 via video conference,
New York, United States of America

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Mr. Secretary-General of the United Nations,

Distinguished Delegates,                                           

1.  It is my pleasure and honour to attend the Food Systems Summit today. As Thailand is a major agricultural producing country, I fully appreciate the importance of food systems in sustaining lives. The COVID-19 pandemic has clearly exposed social inequalities and vulnerabilities of food systems in each country. 

2. Therefore, I urge all of us to work together to transform our food systems towards greater sustainability and balance in all dimensions. Most importantly, we need to strengthen food security and ensure equitable access to safe and healthy food for all to achieve the SDGs. In Thailand, the Agriculture for School Lunch Project, under the royal patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn is one of our success stories in addressing food insecurity and malnutrition among young people in rural and remote areas. 

3. I would like to commend the UN for its proposed framework of 5 Action Tracks for food systems transformation, which aligns with Thailand’s vision of “Security, Prosperity, and Sustainability”. Our agri-food policies emphasise the “Three-S”: food Safety, food Security, and Sustainability of natural resources and agro-ecology. In addition, Thailand is also advancing the Bio-Circular-Green Economy Model or BCG Model to pursue sustainable, balanced, and inclusive economic and social growth.  All of these efforts are based on the 20-Year National Strategy guided by the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy and the Sustainable Development Goals. 

4.    Additionally, the Royal Thai Government also attaches importance to soil and water resource management. Thailand has joined the UN in designating the 5^th of December as World Soil Day. Meanwhile, Thailand and the FAO also confer the annual King Bhumibol World Soil Day Award upon countries, institutions or individuals for their outstanding achievements in this area.  Distinguished Delegates,  

5.   Looking ahead, the Royal Thai Government stands ready to work closely together with our partners and coalitions at both national and global levels to strengthen the resilience of our food systems. 

6.    To conclude, Thailand recognises that today's Summit is the People’s Summit and marks an important step forward in this “Decade of Action”in transforming food systems towards achieving the SDGs that leave no one behind. 

7.    Thank you.