The cabinet meeting on Thursday 09, July 2009 has come to the following decisions:
The Cabinet acknowledged and approved two proposals from the Ministry of Finance.
The first proposal, the draft regulation of the Office of the Prime Minister on project management of the “Thailand : Invest in Strength to Strength 2012” B.E..... was approved in principle by the Cabinet. The Cabinet approved for related ministries to propose to the project management committee, with authorization from ministers, projects that fall under the scope and objectives of the “Thailand : Invest in Strength to Strength 2012” scheme. The committee will consider the feasibility and budget issues, as well as the fund solicitation plan, for the Cabinet to consider in due course.
The draft regulation stipulates that if the proposing agency will solicit their own funds, it must be done in accordance with the rules and regulations. If the agency will request for disbursement from government funds, it will be done through government-sanctioned loans through appropriate agencies. In the case that the agency proposes to have the private sector co-invest, it must be done according to related rules and regulations.
The Cabinet approved for the Ministerial Committee on the Development of the Five Southern Border Provinces to have the authority to change project details, including on the use of budget left over from disbursements. This will also include budget used for supplies, consulting services, and agreements made, which will have to be in accordance with the relevant regulations of the Office of the Prime Minister, or other special regulations set by the Cabinet for the Southern Border Provinces. The members of the project management committee will also be decided on.
The second issue approved by the Cabinet is the report on the selection of the second round of project proposals under the “Thailand : Invest in Strength to Strength 2012” scheme. The government agencies and public enterprises submitted an overwhelming number of project proposals before the June 2009 deadline. The Ministry of Finance therefore requested the Cabinet to postpone to deadline to mid-July, which the Cabinet approved.
The Cabinet approved the project to increase vaccine production capacity for foot and mouth disease for 2010-2012 (three years) totaling a budget of 1,218,371,280 baht, as proposed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives.
The Ministry reported that farmers are lacking 15 million doses of vaccines to prevent foot and mouth disease for their livestock such as cattle, buffalo and pigs. The total number of vaccines needed is 46 million doses per year, as the number of livestock has increased, but vaccine production companies can only produce a maximum of 31 million doses.
The Department of Livestock has therefore proposed this budget to fund the construction of a facility and purchase equipment for the production line of antigens for foot and mouth disease. This would be a production of 3 types of antigens, and would be in accordance with GMP standards. The duration would be from the start of 2010 to 2012, for a period of 3 years.
The benefits to be gained from this project would be to help farmers decrease their operational costs, lessen the general economic damage on livestock owners and agricultural sector, as well as increase the production and market capacity for the country’s livestock industry.
The Cabinet approved various measures of the Ministry of Public Health to prevent the spread of Influenza 2009.
The measures include the closure of tutoring schools for 15 days to decrease the risk of the spread, from 13-28 July 2009. The Ministry of education was assigned to monitor the closures.
The cooperation of owners of internet cafes, game shops and entertainment venues were also solicited. They were asked to strictly abide by health advice and monitor their customers for any sign of illness. They were also asked to clean computer equipment and household utensils, provide circulation of air in their facilities, provide hand cleansing gels and promote the washing of hands.
The Cabinet assigned the Public Relations Department to publicize to the government, private sector and general public on preventive measures and good personal hygiene habits. These measures include using disposable sanitary masks, frequent washing of hands, and refrain from using utensils with other persons.
Those coughing, sneezing or with a fever should temporarily stop working or attending school and stay at home to seek medical attention and take care of their health, while not spreading the flu to the public.
Both public and private medical and public health centers were assigned to prepare for this influenza, such as by allotting ample space to separate patients. They were also assigned to cooperate with other agencies on patient transfers.
The Public Health and Education Ministries were also assigned to send in experts to collaborate on medical treatment of patients in both public and private hospitals.
The Cabinet approved to the draft Joint Declaration on the ASEAN-Canada Enhanced Partnership, as proposed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The declaration has the objective of strengthening ASEAN-Canada cooperation in all sectors, such as political, security, economic, social, cultural, development and technical relations. This is to enhance the 32-year long relations that have existed between ASEAN and Canada. The declaration will also serve to set the framework for Canada’s future cooperation with ASEAN, now with a charter and moving towards building an ASEAN Community by the year 2015.
The declaration is also a reflection of the political will of Canada to increase cooperation with ASEAN in all sectors. Thailand, as ASEAN Chair, will be receiving the role of coordinator for ASEAN-Canada dialogue relations from Vietnam during the ASEAN Ministerial Meetings in July 2009. To maintain a leading role in ASEAN both as chair and as incoming coordinator, the Foreign Ministry summed that supporting the draft would be very beneficial to Thailand in all fronts.
The declaration is a political document that does not fall under Article 190 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand. The Foreign Ministry proposed for the Cabinet to approve the draft before the foreign ministers of ASEAN and Canada adopt it during the Post-Ministerial Conferences during 16-23 July 2009.
--Cabinet Meeting (Abhisit Vejjajiva) July 9, 2009--