On 16 July 2026, H.E. Mr. Arthayudh Srisamoot, Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, attended the 2026 High-level Segment of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The meeting was convened back-to-back with the 2026 High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF 2026).

The Advisor delivered a statement on “Way forward to 2030”, emphasizing that ECOSOC should elevate its role from a platform for dialogue to one that helps drive more concrete outcomes. This can be achieved by setting clearer priorities, strengthening coherence across its work, and mobilizing financing, expertise, and capacity-building support to help countries translate development priorities into real results. He also stressed the need to make greater use of regional commissions, such as the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), to better connect global goals with the needs of countries and regions.

The Advisor also delivered a statement on “Transformation from the ground up: Acting at local level,” stressing that SDG implementation must deliver tangible results at the local level and truly reach the people. Thailand therefore attaches importance to SDG localization by linking national plans with local needs, using data, financing, and partnerships as key tools, and enabling communities to participate in shaping, implementing, and monitoring development approaches that respond to their own contexts. Thailand stands ready to contribute to strengthening ECOSOC as a platform that can help deliver concrete results for the people. This reflects the spirit of Thailand’s candidature to ECOSOC for the term 2029-2031.