The cabinet meeting on Tuesday 21, July 2009 has come to the following decisions:
The Cabinet approved for the 2009 budget (contingency fund) of 51,165,310 baht to set up the One Start & One Stop Service Center to facilitate investors, as proposed by the Ministry of Industry. The Center aims to serve as a comprehensive center to link services and facilitation for both Thai and foreign investors in all types of businesses. These will include those who have BOI facilitation and those who do not, as well as new investors who are interested in Thailand and old investors in Thailand.
The scope of operations for Business Start-Ups are as follows : to service business operators and investors in receiving, coordinating, following-up their requests, to provide advice and information, to assign Account Executives to handle large investor cases such as assistance on registration and documentation, and to act as a channel for complaints on obstacles in doing business, especially those that concern government regulation. The Center will be operational on 1 October 2009 onwards.
As proposed by the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, the Cabinet approved for Thailand to host the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and the Protection on the Rights of Women and Children (WG-ACWC). The second meeting is to be held on 17-19 August 2009 in Bangkok, while the third meeting would be held in October, also in Bangkok.
The Cabinet also approved a budget of 2,191,000 baht from fiscal year 2009 (contingency budget) for the Ministry to host the WG-ACWC, with 1,208,500 baht for the second meeting and 982,500 baht for the third meeting.
The Cabinet approved in principle for Thailand to ratify the Protocol to Amend the MOU on Air Transport Services (2002), as proposed by the Ministry of Transport, and also to transmit the Protocol for the approval of the Parliament.
The Ministry of Transport reported that, at the 27th senior officials meeting in transport on 27-29 May 2009 in Vietnam, the meeting noted that a total of 5 countries--Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Singapore and Vietnam---had already ratified the Protocol to amend the MOU. The ASEAN Secretariat thus requested the remaining member states to expedite the ratification, because it will come into effect only when all member states have ratified it.
To effectively strengthen air transport services in preparation for the economic expansion of the region, and in line with the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint in creating an Economic Community in 2015, the Ministry of Transport has considered the readiness of the air transport industry in using flying rights referred to in the Protocol. The Ministry has come to the conclusion that operators in Thailand are prepared for such services, so it has proposed for the ratification.
The Ministry of Transport also reported that one or more than one airline that has been approved to conduct air transport services will be allowed to transport goods up to 250 tons per week each way, without the limitations on frequency and type of aircraft travelling from one jurisdiction to the other. The routes include Brunei Darussalam (Bandar Seri Begawan), Cambodia (Phnom Penh), Indonesia (7 cities), Lao PDR (Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Pakse), Myanmar (Yangon and Mandalay), Philippines, Singapore, Thailand (Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Hadyai, Khonkaen, Phuket, Utapao, Ubon Ratchathani) and Vietnam (Hanoi, Danang, Ho Chi Minh City, Julai).
This Protocol will amend article 2 (on weight) and article 3 (on flight routes) of the MOU on ASEAN Air Transport of 2002 and will be part of the amended MOU. The Protocol will be effective once all parties have deposited their letters of ratification with the ASEAN Secretary General.
As proposed by the Ministry of Energy, the Cabinet approved the Joint Ministerial Statement of the 27th AMEM, Joint Ministerial Statement of the 3rd EAS EMM and the Joint Ministerial Statement of the 6th AMEM + 3. The Cabinet approved for the Minister of Energy or representative to adopt these 3 statements with counterparts, and approved for the Ministry of Energy and Ministry of Foreign Affairs to amend the Statements as appropriate as long as the substance is not altered. The ASEAN Plus 3 and East Asia Energy Ministers Meeting will be held in Mandalay, Myanmar on 29 July 2009.
The gist of the statements is about setting the direction for cooperative work on energy security, expediting fully benefits derived from alternative energy for the needs of the consumer, investment in alternative energy from laboratories to its fullest commercial use, systematically adding on to the technology involved, effective and efficient use of energy, creating balance between economic development and environmental sustainability, clean energy, developing competitiveness of energy markets, investment in research and development, energy production and energy infrastructure.
The Cabinet acknowledged the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment’s report that on 18 May 2009, the Economic and Social Development Council held elections for memberships in 19 affiliated organizations under ECOSOC. Thailand was officially elected as member of the CSD after the 18th session, for 2010 until the end of the term in 2013.
--Cabinet Meeting (Abhisit Vejjajiva) July 21, 2009--