On behalf of Chulalongkorn University, it is my distinct honor to welcome you to our campus. We are honored by the presence of the Deputy Prime Minister as well as other distinguished participants from around the world. Indeed, you do us great honor.

It is the vision of this university, and indeed, the vision of King Chulalongkorn himself, that this university serves as one of the world�s centers for learning and research. And frankly, even for an endeavor of a wider scope. As yet, we can only afford to direct our attention to issues of professional concern and interest. As a national university and part of national resources we also have to teach and conduct research on important issues of societal concern, including, of course, development and the protection of the environment. But we have to go beyond this and cannot be content with only development and the protection of the environment. We cannot simply teach and conduct research, if we are to address issues of societal concern. We must also engage in such issues. And that is why I am so proud of the initiative taken by our Environmental Research Center and the progress that we have made and has brought us here today.

We are called to respond to the need to merge economic and environmental policies to achieve sustainable development on the national agenda. Or should I say-we are committed to putting these issues on the international agenda. And we are committed to doing this as a matter of common endeavors in close collaboration with other universities, here in Thailand, in the region, and around the world. We are equally committed to doing just this with the business community, the non-governmental research community, and not only with our government here in Thailand, but also with regional and international organizations.

Thailand, Asia and the world need a new generation of environmental leaders. While we are in the throes of serious economic crisis, we can still look ahead to the revival of economic activity in Thailand and the Asia region, and to an Asia that will be once again at the center of world economic activity. And we can understand that if this kind of growth rides on the back of technologies and practices now dominant in the areas of energy production, transportation, manufacturing, agriculture and urban management, then human health and the productivity of natural systems will continue to pay a heavy price. This is why an unprecedented transformation--that some of you call a "clean revolution"--is required to replace today�s industrial and urban management technologies with new ones that meet exacting environmental criteria.

In Thailand, we can look at the situation positively or negatively depending on who we are. In man respects we have made considerable progress. In others, we are still lagging behind. But from whatever perspective we view the future, we can all agree that the current approaches to environmental protection will be inadequate for the future economic world.

It is absolutely urgent to protect Thailand�s (indeed, Asia�s, the world�s) air, water, forests, and soils. At the same time, we have to strengthen our national, regional, and world economies. These goals must be achieved simultaneously. Now more than ever, in these very tough economic times, and in the face of painful budgetary shortfalls, we must address multiple challenges to reduce costs, generate revenues, and gain competitive advantages while simultaneously improving environmental quality. Indeed, a catch-22 situation.

Our country and this university are prepared to come to terms with these challenges and to develop environmental leadership here. Yet, of course, many environmental assaults are no respecter of national boundaries; therefore, we recognize that no nation--ours included--can protect its own environment without cooperation with both its neighbors and world community. It is this cooperation that makes us aware that we must also contribute to developing environmental leadership in the region and around the globe if we do aspire for a brighter future.

With this in mind, I welcome the launching of the Greening of Industry Network Asia at Environmental Research Institute of Chulalongkorn University and I commend our growing collaboration with the U.S.-Asia Environmental Partnership. These endeavors will become fundamentally important parts of our university infrastructure with as much promise for the future, and our traditional resources that we have drawn from our libraries and laboratories. Look around you while on our campus. You will see that international partnership is a way of life here-be it at our business school, our engineering school, and economics department. These partnerships vouch for the remark I have made here today and for the commitment of this university to the ideas I have tried to promote here today.