Former UN chief opens Global Compact Network Thailand

BANGKOK, December 14 (TNA) - Former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has inaugurated the Global Compact Network Thailand (GCNT), as part of the UN Global Compact (UNGC), aimed to promote the good governance in the business sector. Delivering a keynote speech at a ceremony to inaugurate the GCNT in Bangkok on December 13, in which Thai Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam also participated, Ban said that the world's fast changing situation has, on the other hand, caused global insecurity and risks in the production sector, large-scaled businesses, thus, play a vital role to reduce the risks on the Earth. The former UN chief expressed his appreciation to leading Thai private companies for forming the GCNT as an arm of the UNGC to jointly promote and support the sustainable development in the socio-economic and environmental areas among business firms in order to be in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. According to the former UN secretary-general, Thailand, through the GCNT, will, from now on, become a UN major force to cope with the world's four urgent challenging issues, including protecting human and labor rights, as well as easing the problem of global warming or climate change to conserve the environment and countering the corruption in order to bring about the good governance in the business sector. The GCNT, headed by Chief Executive Office (CEO) of Charoen Pokphand Group (CP) Suphachai Chearavanont, who is also Chairman of the Executive Board of True Corporation Public Company Limited, now comprises of about 40 business member firms from such the major domestic industries as agriculture and food, petroleum, telecommunication, gems and jewelry, tourism and printing, with a target of increasing its member firms to about 100 by 2019. (TNA)