One final word. Many of you will be aware that Thailand’s Interim Government has adopted His Majesty the King’s “Sufficiency Economy” philosophy as a fundamental principle of national development.

What this means is that we will focus on stable growth, sound macro-economic discipline and the equitable sharing of economic benefits as we compete in the globalised world. Growth with quality means greater concerns for good governance and management of risk.

But such concerns do not impact on the market mechanism, nor do they influence the openness of the Thai economy. In fact, the “sufficiency economy philosophy” is a Thai model for sustainability, the importance of which is only now becoming recognized around the world.

As an early adopter of a sustainable approach to development, Thailand should, I believe, be praised for it is a path down which every country will have to travel sooner rather than later.

– Extracted from a speech by Thailand’s junta-installed Prime Minister, Surayud Chulanont, to the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo: “A New Era of Intensified and Sustainable Partnership”, The Nation, 3 April 2007.