On 18 November 2011, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatraattended the ASEAN-China Commemorative Summit at Bali Nusa Dua Convention Centre (BNDCC), Bali, Indonesia.
The meeting focused on (1) political-security — the promotion of cooperation to peacefully resolve the South China Sea dispute (2) economics — increasing the volume of trade and investment under the ASEAN-China FTA framework, as well as encouraging regional connectivity, with emphasis on linkages and maritime cooperation (3) socio-cultural— emphasizing the people-to-people exchange, cultural cooperation, science and technology cooperation, disaster management and preparedness, human resource development and the role of youths.
Prime Minister Yingluck also took the opportunity to raise Thailand’s interests, which included (1) Thailand’s willingness to cooperate with China and ASEAN Member States to fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Code of the Parties in the South China Sea (DoC) (2) Thailand’s belief that the ASEAN-China FTA would play an important role in promoting regional stability and offsetting the impacts of the slow down in the global economy , as well as supporting the economic expansion of ASEAN in order to provide a basis for future FTA of ASEAN and other dialogue partners (3) Thailand’s readiness to work with China, as one of the two dialogue partners sharing land border with ASEAN, in enhancing connectivity, especially the North-South Economic Corridor for the benefits of the peoples and business communities living along this Economic Corridor (4) Thailand’s welcome of China’s proposal to increase an additional 10 billion USD to the infrastructural fund (from the previous announcement of 15 billion USD in 2009) , the establishment of 3 million Renminbi to promote maritime cooperation, promoting the use of local currencies (including the Chinese Renmibi) for international transactions, the designation of the Year 2012 to be the ASEAN-China Year of Science and Technological Cooperation, as well as expressing Thailand’s appreciation to China for her prompt support and assistance to Thailand’s ongoing flood relief effort.
The ASEAN-China Summit is convened annually at the margin of the ASEAN Summit and the ASEAN Summits with Dialogue Partners to review ASEAN-China relations and to discuss issues of mutual interests. For this year, The Leaders from ASEAN Member States and China jointly endorsed the Joint Statement of the ASEAN — China Summit to Commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the Dialogue Relation.
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