Opening Remark 

By 

Mr. Boontham Lertsukeekasem 

Director of Policy and Planning Bureau, Ministry of Interior 

On the Occasion of the Visit of Rwanda PEI Delegation to 

the Ministry of Interior 

20th May 2011 

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Ms. BUSOKEYE Marie Laetitia, Head of Planning Department of Rwanda 
Environment Management Authority 

Mr. RURANGWA Raphael, Director General of planning, Ministry of 
Agriculture 

Distinguished Delegates from Rwanda, 

Our Colleagues from UNDP Thailand and the Ministry of Interior, 

 

On behalf of the Ministry of Interior, it is a pleasure for me to 
welcome the delegation of Rwanda to the Ministry of Interior, Thailand. I 
would also like to extend my warm regard to our good colleague, Ms. 
Sutharin from the UNDP Thailand, who has been working hand in hand with 
our officials of the Ministry of Interior. 

 

In Thailand, the Ministry of Interior is the national implementing 
partner of the Poverty-Environment Initiative Programme which was 
launched one year ago since the co-signing of the project document between 
the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior and the Resident 
Representative of the UNDP Thailand. The Ministry of Interior has been 


working collaboratively with other key government agencies such as the 
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, National Economic and 
Social Development Board, and the Office of the Public Development 
Committee, to mainstream the poverty and environment issues into both 
national and sub-national planning. 

Compared to the PEI-Rwanda programme, the programme in 
Thailand is still at the early stage. I have learned that the first phase of PEI-
Rwanda (2005-2007) was completed in May 2007 and the second phase 
(2007-2010) has been successfully implemented. 

 

The today visit of Rwanda PEI team provide a good opportunity for 
Thailand and Rwanda to exchange views, experiences, and lessons learned 
from the PEI implementation. Needless to say, colleagues from Rwanda 
team with more experiences would have many stories to share with our PEI-
Thailand team. However, I am certain that sharing of information regarding 
poverty and environment issues in Thailand, work plan, and process under 
PEI-Thailand programme would also be useful for the Rwanda team. 

As we have only few hours to exchange views and lessons learned, 

I would like to keep my remark short and leave more rooms for discussions. 

However, before we commence on the bilateral discussion and lesson 
learning, I would like to invite the head of Rwanda’s delegation to introduce 
your team and say a few words on the background and objective of this visit. 

 

Thank you very much