Dissemination Event
World Development Report 2007
Welcome Remarks by Ian Porter
World Bank Thailand Country Director
March 12, 2007, Bangkok
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen:
It is my great pleasure to welcome you all today to the launch in Thailand of the World Development Report for 2007, which follows its official publication during the annual World Bank-IMF meetings in Singapore last September. As many of you may know, the focus of this year’s World Development Report is on Development and the Next Generation. I am therefore especially delighted to see many young people in the audience. Your interest is testament to the timeliness of this report. The 2007 WDR notes the critical role that the younger generation plays in social and economic development around the world. It also identifies the risks that threaten to undermine that role. And it recommends policy options to better, and more effectively, harness the potential that younger people offer to development. You will hear more about this during the presentation by Mr. Emmanuel Jimenez. Manny is the East Asia Pacific Director for the World Bank’s Human Development Sector as well as the lead author of this report, and I am delighted that he could be with us today. While I am hesitant to admit that I started working in this region probably before some in our audience were even born, I’m also very happy to share some thoughts with you on the development of Thai youth which I have observed over the years. In Thailand, successive generations of young people have played major roles in the country’s economic, political and social development. At various points from the 1970s to the 1990s, student groups sparked movements leading to significant political reforms and changes of power. Over the last three decades, young and dedicated Thai workers have made important contributions to the rapid economic growth that has benefited all in the nation. Reading local newspapers, I also notice more and more news articles on the many social and environmental causes for which younger people are volunteering. All of this suggests to me that young people in Thailand are fully aware of the significant contribution they can make to their country’s political, social and economic progress. However, at critical junctures in their lives, many young people will be confronted not only with opportunities, but with risks. The opportunities present a chance to benefit wider society, while the risks, unless properly handled, can destroy that potential. The future of today’s younger generation and its contribution to the nation will depend heavily on how each of its members manages this transition. With this in mind, I am pleased to report that, in recent years, the World Bank Office in Bangkok has increased it efforts to improve public understanding of the risks and the opportunities confronting Thai youth. And as we prepare our annual analysis of social issues, the Thailand Social Monitor for 2007, we have decided to focus on the opportunities and risks confronting youth, and will apply the WDR 2007 framework we discuss today, although with slight adjustments to better correspond to Thailand’s progress and needs. While the WDR looks at five major transitions in any young person’s life, our 2007 Thailand Social Monitor will focus largely on the important transitions from growing up healthy, learning for work and life, and moving from school to work. Building on our Thailand Social Monitor on secondary education, issued in 2006, the new Monitor will examine factors influencing decisions by the young people of Thailand to stay or abandon school. It will also analyze factors that make youth vulnerable to health risks, review current trends in youth employment, and examine youth-related Government policies as well as institutions. You will hear more about the upcoming Social Monitor from Mr. Luis Benveniste, who heads the World Bank’s Human Development Sector in Thailand. We hope that our new Social Monitor report would provide the basis for a policy debate on how the Thai Government can best prepare youth for the labor market, which we believe would enhance Thailand’s future competitiveness. We also hope that, by participating in today’s launch of the WDR 2007, many of you in the audience will have a clearer understanding of your own potential. Your country’s progress depends on many decisions, some which you may have already made and some you will make in the future. I personally hope that, after all the presentations this afternoon, your future decisions can be made even more thoughtfully – and with greater awareness of the impact such decisions could have on your country’s future development. Thank you.  |
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