February 25, 2014 at 0900hrs at Royal Thai Air Force Headquarters, Don Muang, Bangkok, Prime Minister and Defense Minister Yingluck Shinawatra presided over the Cabinet meeting. Outcome of the meeting is as follows:
Following suggestion of Bureau of the Budget, the Cabinet approved 84,078,000 Baht of FY2013budget (central budget, reserved funds available for cases of emergency or necessity), which has been already approved as an encumbrance by Ministry of Finance, for Sports Authority of Thailand ’s prize money under National Sports Development Fund for athletes, trainers and sports associations that won medals from the twenty-seventh SEA Games, held on December 11-22, 2013 at Republic of the Union of Myanmar.
Following proposal of Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, the Cabinet acknowledges progress report of Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives’ Flagship Projects.
Gist
Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives reported that:
1. With reference to the Government’s Country Strategy which has indicated that each Ministry implement up to 10 Flagship Projects for the fiscal year 2013-2018 under the country’s development strategy framework, which would answer national strategic goals in 4 aspects, that is, increase of incomes from existing bases, creating income from new opportunities, capacity enhancement in competitiveness and expense reduction,
2. Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives has implemented 8 Flagship Projects to respond to the said strategic goals. Details are as follows:
1) Agricultural zoning for key agricultural products project: This project aims to enhance production efficiency, reduce cost, balance between production and marketing. It also promotes value added and value creation through management of zoning, types of products, and human resources.
2) Green Agricultural City Project: This project aims to develop environmentally friendly agriculture and to recycle agricultural wastes to create values through promotion of urban agriculture and green city project in each province.
3) Smart Farmer and Smart Officer Project: This project aims to promote critical thinking based on academic knowledge, ability to do production plan, use of technology in production, production of safe products, social and environment responsibilities, and use of marketing in production, with the assistance of officials from Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. The objective of this project is to ensure each agriculturist to earn at least 180,000 Baht minimum wage per annum.
4) Food Safety Project: Objectives of this project are to promote safe and quality food for both domestic consumption and export, and to create trustworthiness among both Thai consumers and foreign tourists on Thai vegetables, meat and fish which are chemical and germ free, and meet acceptable export standards.
5) Preparation for ASEAN Community Project: This project aims to determine national strategy for each agricultural product in order to become leader, co-investor, and goods receiver from ASEAN countries in 2015.
6) Seed Hub of ASEAN Community Project: Objectives of this project are to promote Thailand as the hub of seeds and animal breeds in the ASEAN region as Thailand has exported over 20 types of seeds and animals which can generate more than 4,000 million baht and 5,200 million baht per year respectively, and has produced more than 1.4 million ton of quality rice per year.
7) Project to promote substitution of agricultural machinery for agricultural labors: This project aims to promote use of agricultural machinery to substitute agricultural labors in order to solve current shortage of agricultural labor force and to become the hub of agricultural machinery production distribution within the ASEAN region.
8) Project to increase irrigation zones: Goals of this project are to manage irrigations for maximum benefits and to increase 60 million Rai of irrigations particularly in the agricultural zoning areas.
Following proposal of Ministry of Culture, the Cabinet,
1. Approved in addition to Cabinet’s resolution made on January 31, 2012 (Title: Signing of Memorandum of Understanding on Establishment of Commission on BIMSTEC Cultural Industries Commission (BCIC) and BIMSTEC Cultural Industries Observatory (BCIO)). The change was made from “approved for Foreign Affairs Minister as signatory of MOU on Establishment of Commission on BIMSTEC Cultural Industries Commission (BCIC) and BIMSTEC Cultural Industries Observatory (BCIO)” to “approved for Foreign Affairs Minister or an authorized person as signatory of draft MOU on Establishment of Commission on BIMSTEC Cultural Industries Commission (BCIC) and BIMSTEC Cultural Industries Observatory (BCIO)”.
2. Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to prepare for Full Powers for signatory of mentioned MOU.
Following proposal from the Thai Meteorological Department, Ministry of Information Technology and Communication, the Cabinet,
1. Approved in addition to the Cabinet’s former resolution, allowing flexibility for Foreign Affairs Minister to assign an authorized person as the signatory of aforementioned MOA to establish BCWC.
2. Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to prepare for Full Powers for the signatory of the aforementioned MOA.
--Cabinet Meeting (Yingluck Shinawatra) February 25, 2014--