On 14 March 2012, Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul met with Mr. Cinar Aldemir, Executive Director of the Secretariat of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), on the occasion of the latter’s trip to attend the UNESCAP’s Transport Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok.
On this occasion, the Executive Director thanked the Royal Thai Government for attaching importance to CICA cooperation activities which promote peace, stability and security within the region, examples such as attending to all important CICA Meetings, hosting the First CICA Business Forum and SMEs Networking and the CICA Economic Sub-Group Meeting in March 2011, as well as providing training course on Narcotic Law Enforcement to CICA Member States early this year. In addition, the Executive Director also expressed gratitude to Thailand for voluntarily donating 20,000 USD to the CICA Secretariat and took this opportunity to invite the Foreign Minister to attend the 4th CICA Ministerial Meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan in autumn 2012, which would mark the 20th Anniversary of CICA’s establishment.
Foreign Minister Surapong, in turn, reaffirmed Thailand’s intention to actively participate in the CICA process, as well as reassured Thailand’s position to work closely with the Executive Director to promote CICA activities based on CICA principles of consensus, voluntary and step- by-step approach. Foreign Minister Surapong also expressed his appreciation to the Executive Director for his efforts towards CICA’s progress and network with regional and international organizations. In this regard, Foreign Minister Surapong stood ready to help CICA promote increased interaction with ASEAN.
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