Speech by H.E. Mr. Surapit Kirtiputra, Ambassador of Thailand
on the Auspicious Occasion of
the 85th Birthday Anniversary of His Majesty King Bhumibhol Adulyadej
and the National Day of Thailand
on 4th December 2012
at Villa Thai, Rome
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His Excellency Mr. Staffan de Mistura,
Excellencies and Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is indeed a great pleasure and honour for me and my wife, as well as the officials and staff of the Royal Thai Embassy, to welcome you at an auspicious occasion to celebrate the 85th Birthday Anniversary of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej on the 5th of December which is also our National Day.
For the Thai people, the birthday anniversary of His Majesty the King is indeed a time of joy because His Majesty the King has devoted himself, since His Majesty’s Accession to the Throne on 9th June 1946, for the better living of the people, being main pillar for the nation’s stability and induces development to the country. His Majesty is truly the working monarch and soul of the nation. His Majesty has initiated more than 4,000 Royal Development Projects in such areas as irrigation, farming, drought and flood alleviation as well as soil erosion prevention.
The celebration of His Majesty the King’s birthday this year is special, as we begin to celebrate World Soil Day on 5th December, in honour of His Majesty, who has been officially recognized as a Humanitarian Soil Scientist. Since 2002, the International Union of Soil Sciences made a resolution to propose the 5th of December, the birthday of His Majesty, as World Soil Day, to honour His Majesty for his promotion of soil science and soil resource conservation.
In June 2012, in recognizing the crucial role of soils for food security and considering the enormous challenges for their sustainable management and protection, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) decided to celebrate World Soil Day on the 5th of December 2012, for the first time, with the theme “Securing healthy soils for a food secure world” and to advocate widely to place soils at the top of the development agenda worldwide.
Distinguished Guests,
I would like to take this opportunity to celebrate the 144 years of diplomatic relations between Thailand and Italy. Thailand is pleased that we are one among the very first Asian partners of Italy since the old days and continues to enjoy a wide range of cooperation over the time. The exchange of visits between High-Level Officers of Thailand and Italy is increased. On 5 November this year, Prime Minister of Italy and Prime Minister of Thailand have met during the ASEM meeting in Vientiane and had fruitful bilateral discussion.
Italy ranks the 4th place among Thailand’s top EU trade and investment partners. Average trade value reaches 3,000 million Euros while nearly 180,000 Italian enjoy their holidays at beaches and other value destination in Thailand yearly.
Besides, as a member of ASEAN which is a major food and industrial suppliers of the world and a combined market of about 600 million people, there are even more opportunities for Thailand and Italy to join their hands. The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) will come into effect in 2015, therefore, the ASEAN Awareness Forum, which organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy and Confindustria in March 2012, has created better momentum to strengthen Italy’s economic relations with ASEAN.
My colleagues and I look forward to continue working closely with all friends and colleagues here to strengthen closer cooperation with Italy in all fields of mutual interest.
His Excellency Mr. Staffan de Mistura,
All Distinguished Guests,
May I now invite you to join me in a toast to the good health, success, happiness and prosperity of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. (Play the Thai National Anthem)
Now please join me in proposing a toast to His Excellency Giorgio Napolitano, the President of the Republic of Italy, as well as the long-lasting relationship between our two countries and peoples. (Play the Italian National Anthem)
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