On 13 October 2011, Mrs. Asha-Rose Migiro, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN DSG) paid a courtesy call on Mr. Surapong Tovichakchaikul, Minister of Foreign Affairs, during her visit to Thailand to chair the meeting of the Regional Coordination Mechanism of the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific between 12-15 October 2011. Gists of the discussion are as follows:
1. Flooding situation in Thailand
The UN DSG expressed her condolences regarding the on going flood situation in Thailand and commended the Royal Thai Government’s efforts in dealing with the situation. The UN DSG also expressed the UN’s readiness to cooperate with Thailand on this matter. The UN had conducted a numbers of projects relating to disaster management and prevention, which Thailand could benefit from exchanging information.
The Foreign Minister expressed his appreciation and stated that not only Thailand, but other countries in this region, such as Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam were also facing severe floods. Since all are key food producing countries, food security would also be affected by this disaster. A comprehensive study on the impact of floods on food security should therefore be undertaken to develop the most appropriate solution.
2. Developments in Myanmar
The Foreign Minister said that during the meeting with the UN Secretary-General (UNSG) during the 66th United Nations General Assembly in New York, he informed the UNSG of the improving development regarding Thailand-Cambodia relations and the situation in Myanmar. During the official visit of the Thai Prime Minister to Myanmar on 5 October 2011, both countries reaffirmed their commitment to continue with existing bilateral cooperative endeavors. Regarding the progress made in political development and the national reconciliation process in Myanmar, the fact that the Myanmar Government had released more than 6,000 prisoners, reflects Myanmar’s effort in developing its democracy. In order to support the positive development in Myanmar, the Foreign Minister urged the UN to coordinate with other countries to ease sanctions on Myanmar. Furthermore, in principle, Thailand supports Myanmar’s chairmanship of ASEAN in 2014.
The UN DSG was aware of developments in Myanmar and was of the view that there were tremendous opportunities to work closely to support the political reform in Myanmar.
3. ASEAN-UN Cooperation
The UN DSG informed the Thai side that the UN has drafted a report on ASEAN-UN cooperation and hoped that this report would be useful to further strengthen relations between ASEAN and the UN.
The Foreign Minister also informed the UN DSG that Thailand was pleased that the UNSG would be able to attend the 4th ASEAN-UN Summit in Bali this November.
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