On 20 September 2011, during the sidelines of the 66th United Nation General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul attended the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) Breakfast Meeting and held a bilateral meeting with Mr. Gombojav Zandanshatar, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Mongolia. The Foreign Minister gave a media interview after the meetings. Gist as follows:
1. The Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) Breakfast Meeting is an annual event. The ACD is a continent-wide policy-level forum initiated by former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to enhance better understanding, trust, Asian values and strengthen cooperation among the 31 member countries. The objective of this year’s meeting is to pass on the chairmanship from Iran to Kuwait and endorse the theme “Towards a Better Future for Asian Cooperation” for the 10th ACD Ministerial Meeting to be held in Kuwait between 10-11October 2011.
On this occasion, the Foreign Minister made an intervention emphasizing the need to build trust among the member countries and, whilst other regions continue to face the present debt and financial crisis, member countries in Asia should work more closely together to coordinate their policies to avert and overcome the said crisis.
In the meeting, the Foreign Minister of Bahrain expressed appreciation for Thailand’s active role as the ACD Coordinator for the past ten years and hoped that, ten years from now, the ACD would develop into a more concrete and stronger forum. On his part, Foreign Minister Surapong said that for the ACD to develop into an Asian Community similar to the ASEAN Community, there would have to be closer collaboration to raise awareness in all sectors of society including the government, private and civil society sectors about the ACD and its cooperative endeavours. There should also be more exchange programs and other people-to-people activities organized.
2. In his bilateral meeting with the Mongolian Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Gombojav Zandanshatar, Foreign Minister Surapong reaffirmed Thailand’s readiness to cooperate with Mongolia on development and to explore investment opportunities. Thailand also hoped that the bilateral agreement for the promotion and protection of investments as well as the proposed activities to be undertaken under Thailand-Mongolia Development Cooperation Plan could be finalized at the earliest opportunity.
Furthermore, the Mongolian Foreign Affairs and Trade raised the issue of scholarships for Mongolian students to study in Thailand and expressed Mongolia’s interest in learning more about Thailand’s democratic experience. In response, Foreign Minister Surapong agreed to consult with the relevant agencies on providing additional scholarships for Mongolian students and looked forward to exchanging experiences on democratization with Mongolia.
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