On 28 October 2010, in Hanoi, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva attended the opening ceremony of the 17th ASEAN Summit, and other related meetings including ASEAN Leaders’ Working Lunch with ASEAN-BAC, ASEAN Leaders’ Retreat, 5th Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle Summit, and informal working dinner for ASEAN leaders.
During the ASEAN Leaders’ Retreat, the ASEAN leaders discussed on following important issues.
1. ASEAN Community-Building: ASEAN leaders agreed that member states need to cultivate the culture of compliance among all concerned sectors in moving toward the realization of ASEAN Community. They underlined the need to strengthen the knowledge-based economy to make ASEAN a highly competitive economic region and the importance of raising people’s awareness in community building process.
2. ASEAN Connectivity: The Meeting adopted the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity and proposed that ASEAN Finance Ministers consider the establishment of the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund. They also highlighted the need to rationalize how Dialogue Partners can contribute to this development.
3. Economic recovery and sustainable growth: The Meeting expressed concerns over the volatile international economic environment and underlined the need for a more coordinated and concerted efforts to address this issue.
4. Climate change and disaster management: Due to the fact that the Southeast Asia has been visibly affected by the climate change, the Meeting agreed that the establishment of ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve (APTERR) and the ASEAN Disaster Management Fund should be expedited.
5. External Relations and Evolving Regional Architecture: The Meeting attached its importance to engaging with Dialogue Partners in a more balanced manner to underline the ASEAN Centrality. In this regard, the Meeting agreed to expand the East Asia Summit (EAS) to include the United States and Russian Federation in 2011. This year, the US Secretary of State and the Russian Foreign Minister will participate in the 5th EAS as Special Guests of the Chair.
After the ASEAN Leaders’ Retreat, the Prime Minister chaired the 5th Indonesia — Malaysia — Thailand Growth Triangle Summit or IMT-GT. The meeting reviewed the effort to maintain economic stability and the measures to cope with the current global economic crisis by emphasising on adjusting rules and regulations on logistics and the basic infrastructure linking the three countries Moreover, the meeting also discussed about ways to seek cooperation with Japan on food security and with Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) on alternative energy.
On this occasion, the Prime Minister stated that the economic growth and social development must be carried on simultaneously by referring to the development projects in Southern Thailand as the result of consultation with all concerned sectors in order to achieve the sustainable development. In addition, the Prime Minister also stated that Thailand would engage with her neighbours through cooperation under various development frameworks, highlighting the roles and involvement of private sector and local agencies, as cited in the 11th National Economic and Social Development Plan, to be implemented from 2012 to 2016.
For further information, please contact the Press Division, Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tel.02-6435170, Fax.02-6435169, E-mail: div0704@mfa.go.th