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reducing inequalities and strengthening democracy. Because they are based on

human rights that are universal and included in one single framework highlighting
the interdependence of all the goals, the SDGs are a powerful tool for countries to
adopt and strive to achieve, at national level but also at local level. In Thailand, I
am even further convinced of their relevance because they align very nicely to

another strong and holistic, but this time home grown, reference framework, the
Sufficiency economy philosophy.

As a newcomer to Thailand, I was provided several opportunities to discuss
and learn about the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy. What stroke me immediately

was how much the SDGs and Agenda 2030 share common values and principles
with the framework established by the late King Bhumibol. The Sufficiency Economy
Philosopluy (แนวทางเศรษฐกิจพอเพียง) advocates for growth but with stability rather
than rapidity. It emphasizes sustainable development, sound macroeconomic policies,

and equitable sharing of the benefits of growth. At the same time, it highlights the
dangers of excessive risk-taking, of untenable inequalities, and among others of
wasteful use of natural resources. The Sufficiency Economy approach stresses the
importance of “self-immunity”, in other words, the ability to strengthen at all levels

the resilience of the country, of the community, of the family to external shocks.
These could be an economic crisis, a natural disaster, a year of bad harvest. The
three key principles of Sufficiency, moderation, wisdom and insight, are very much
required for the achievement of the SDGs.

In 2007, UNDP Thailand produced a National Human Development Report
entitled “Sufficiency Economy and Human Development”. In its introduction, the
report recalled how the concept of human development puts people and their well-
being at the center of development and provides an alternative to the traditional,

more narrowly focused economic growth paradigm. Human development is about
people, and about expanding their choices and capabilities to live long, healthy,
knowledgeable, and creative lives. It also underlined how the thinking on the Keynote Speaker

Sufficiency Economy clearly belonged to the realm of human development as it
focuses on humanity, making sustainability key, favoring well-being over wealth, and
insisting on the importance of learning. On 26 May 2006, the then UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan presented a Human Development Lifetime Achievement Award
to King Bhumibol.