Sufficiency Economy and Human Development

Sufficiency Economy is a set of tools and principles that help communities, corporations and governments managing globalization - maximising its benefits and minimising its costs - by making wise decisions that promote sustainable development, equity, and resilience against shocks. As such, the Sufficiency Economy is a much needed ‘survival strategy’ in a world of economic uncertainty and environmental threats

“Thai Middle Path” is key to fighting poverty, coping with economic risk and promoting corporate social responsibility.

The philosophy of sufficiency economy has been developed and advocated for the past three decades by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand based on H.M..s accumulative experiences in rural development. After the economic crisis in 1997, His Majesty reiterated and expanded on the philosophy in numerous remarks during 1997 and 1998. The philosophy stresses the Buddhist principle of the “middle path” as a guiding principle for people at all levels in pursuing their livelihood. The philosophy of sufficiency economy includes three elements: moderation, reasonableness, and self-awareness and requires two conditions for the philosophy to work: knowledge and virtues.

Thailand’s “Sufficiency Economy” holds the key for reducing poverty, combating corruption, and buffering the country against financial crises. Sufficiency Economy and Human Development de-mystifies this economic philosophy and shows how its practical applications in business, politics, education, farming, and even everyday conduct have a wide global relevance.

Gaining momentum in Thailand after the 1997 financial crisis, Sufficiency Economy thinking advocates economic stability over unbridled growth. It celebrates sustainable development, sound macro-economic policies, and the equitable sharing of the benefits of economic prosperity.

Thailand  Human  Development  Report  2007:  Sufficiency Economy and Human Development, published by the United Nations Development Programme, is the result of a year-long collaboration between Thai and international experts, and the contribution of many Thai officials and academics committed to bringing Sufficiency Economy thinking to a wider audience. The report was launched on 9 January at Government House in Bangkok and was presided over by the Prime Minister. The report highlights the stark contrast between Thailand’s Impressive overall economic and social progress and the many deep-rooted development challenges that remain. Incomes are highly skewed, many people still live in poverty, and the provision of essential services differs greatly in quality and quantity in different areas of the country. At the same time the natural environment is under great stress and family and community life is strained by migration and urbanization.

Derived from these messages are specific actions that communities, corporations, civil society and government in Thailand can undertake now to move Sufficiency Economy forward:

1. The Sufficiency Economy is central to alleviating poverty and reducing the economic vulnerability of the poor. For instance:

• Make the Sufficiency approach central to government antipoverty policy through schemes to build local capacity for self-reliance production;
• Provide the landless and land-poor people with land from the extensive reserves of land that is unused;
• Implement the community control over local resources that was promised in the 1997 Constitution by passing the community forestry bill and other enabling legislation;
• Ensure development spending is not skewed to certain provinces with political clout, but is equitably distributed, targeted as areas of real, and used more creatively.

2. The Sufficiency Economy is a means towards community empowerment and the strengthening of communities as foundations of the local economy. For instance:

• Target community development efforts, urban and rural, towards building capacity for self-help and sustainable economic activities;
• Strengthen community capability to manage finances, and investigate feasibility of converting village funds into local banks in order to promote savings;
• Ensure local government bodies provide opportunity for community participation;
• Facilitate efforts to share learning and best practices of successful community groups;
• Replace hand-out policies with schemes that strengthen communities. own capacity to provide for all of their members’ needs;
• Encourage corporations to support community projects in line with Sufficiency principles as part of corporate social responsibility.

3. The Sufficiency Economy takes corporate responsibility to a new level by raising the strength of commitment to practices conducive to long-term profitability in a competitive environment. For instance:

• Incorporate Sufficiency principles into training for corporate directors and into the code corporate governance enforced by the Stock Exchange of Thailand
• Persuade the major business associations to propagate Sufficiency principles among their members;
• Provide more widespread publicity for businesses of all sizes that have utilised Sufficiency principles in ways that benefit both business and society at large;
• Create an advisory service to help corporations align their social projects with Sufficiency principles.

4. Sufficiency principles are vital for improving standards of governance in public administration. For instance:

• Find ways to immunise the institutions that monitor corruption and malfeasance in public services from political contamination and influence;
• Integrate Sufficiency principles into the Public Administration Plan, including key performance indicators used for the evaluation of government departments and personnel;
• Create a framework based on sufficiency principles for monitoring decision-making and implementation in public sector projects;
• Reform the Freedom of Information Act so that it truly serves its objective of ensuring that people have access to information.

5. The Sufficiency Economy can guide macro-economic policy making to immunise a country against shocks and to plan strategies for more equitable and sustainable growth. For instance:

• Ensure implementation of Thailand.s Tenth Plan fulfilling its commitment to the Sufficiency Economy, and meeting the aspirations of all who contribute to the drafting;
• Initiate policies to reverse the decline in the domestic savings rate so that the economy is more self-reliant for capital, and households are better prepared for the future;
• Pursue a more consistent energy policy focused on greater self-reliance by accelerating research on substitute fuels and finding more economies in energy usage;
• Further develop the deservedly popular universal health scheme using Sufficiency principles to ensure it is efficient and sustainable.

6. Sufficiency thinking demands a transformation of human values, a “revolution in the mindset”, necessary for the advancement of human development. For instance:

• Upgrade the quality of education, including both content and pedagogical methods, to fulfill the key preconditions of knowledge and integrity for successful operation of the Sufficiency Economy;
• Expand the application of Sufficiency principles in the management and administration of schools;
• Provide more support for non-formal education which responds to the needs of communities for life-long learning;
• Explore ways to promote Sufficiency thinking within the mass media including more airtime for programming with social content and public participation;
• Provide social recognition for people in communities, business, public service, and other sectors who act as leaders or role models of the Sufficiency Economy.
• “We believe that Sufficiency Economy principles are applicable around the world, especially for rapidly developing countries that are experiencing some of the same pressures as Thailand,” said Joana Merlin-Scholtes, UNDP Resident Representative and UN Resident Coordinator in Thailand.