Bangkok--Jan 17--MFA
Mr. Chairman,
Fellow Ministers,
Distinguished Delegates,
I would like to join my fellow ministers who have spoken before me in commending the Government of Japan for organizing this important meeting.
This initiative brings together the countries of the Mekong Sub-Region and Japan in a collective enterprise -- one based on shared goals and aspirations. These are to advance sustainable development in the Mekong Sub-Region, to create more opportunities there, to attain greater prosperity for the peoples.
So let me state first and foremost -- that this initiative has the full support of the Royal Thai Government.
This initiative reflects the political commitment of Japan, in concrete terms, to become more engaged in the economic destiny of the Mekong Sub-Region.
Such enhanced engagement by Japan is warmly welcomed.
Such enhanced engagement by Japan is only natural, given Japan’s long history of relations with the countries in the region and its vibrant economic presence in the region’s economies. Indeed, Japan is in the top three as foreign investor for three Mekong countries and as trading partner in two.
Such engagement by Japan is mutually beneficial. The Mekong Sub-Region has great potential and promise, with its abundance of resources and population of 300 million, linking Northeast Asia and South Asia, the Indian Ocean and Pacific -- opportunities for Japanese companies.
At the same time, because of greater interdependence, the developmental challenges of the Mekong Sub-Region, if left unaddressed, can eventually affect the continued prosperity of Japan, the progress in the development of an ASEAN Community, even the realization of an East Asian community.
So we are all joint stakeholders in the prosperity of the Mekong Sub-Region.
Mr. Chairman,
Thailand, like Japan, attaches great importance to the development of the Mekong Sub-Region.
Because we are an integral part of the Mekong Sub-Region. Through geography and history. Through economic interactions and cross-flows of peoples.
Thailand’s economic destiny is inextricably linked to that of the countries of the Mekong. Cross-border trade volume alone in 2006 grew at a rate of 14.47 percent, with total trade volume of 5.5 billion US dollars.
And since we believe that prosperous neighbours make for even better neighbours, Thailand takes its role as Development Partner of the Mekong Sub-Region seriously. This Development Partnership role, which represents Goal 8 of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), manifests itself in our development cooperation polices at the bilateral and regional levels.
Bilaterally, from 1995 to 2006, Thailand has contributed some 55 million US dollars in technical cooperation through the Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA), focussing mainly on our neighbouring countries in the Mekong Sub-Region. In 2006, almost six million US dollars was disbursed in development cooperation programmes in our neighbours.
So far, Thailand has approved financial packages of about 200 million US dollars from Thailand’s Neighbouring Countries Economic Development Cooperation Agency (NEDA) for 16 infrastructure projects linking Thailand with neighbouring countries. Currently, Thailand is preparing to provide a soft loan for another road construction project (R68) in our neighbour Cambodia.
At the regional level, Thailand contributes through the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) and the Vientiane Action Programme (VAP), through the Greater Mekong Sub-Region (GMS), the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS), the Mekong River Commission (MRC).
But solving the developmental challenges of the Mekong Sub-Region is something that Thailand and its neighbours cannot accomplish alone. We need other Development Partners: other countries, international organizations and financial institutions.
Mr. Chairman,
So how do we best go about solving the challenges of development in the Mekong Sub-Region?
First, we need to have complementarity and synergy -- in the development cooperation programmes across the various regional frameworks of cooperation.
We need to coordinate, streamline and integrate the various projects, from infrastructure development to HRD, from trade and investment promotion to tourism, whether in the GMS, ACMECS, ASEAN+3 or the Mekong River Commission (MRC).
Here, a good example is Japan’s contribution of 20 million US dollars for the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC) and 2nd EWEC will be of great added value to the broader regional effort to improve logistics in the Mekong Sub-Region and the road networks linking East to West, North to South.
But coordination of projects needs to be matched with integration of strategies across these regional frameworks.
I propose that we give importance to further identifying how such coordination of projects, integration of strategies can take place. Here, we can make use of expertise and experience of bodies such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP).
To supplement these development cooperation strategies, niche roles for the various Development Partners need to be identified.
Where is Japan’s niche role? This is something that we will have to work out together, at this meeting and beyond.
Second, we need to give more importance to the “software” side of development cooperation. This point is part of a key recommendation made by the ADB’s Midterm Review of the Greater Mekong Sub-Region Strategic Framework 2002-2012.
The software side includes rules and regulations governing the effective use of “hardware” such as transportation networks. Here, we need to accelerate the conclusion of agreements to surmount obstacles to free flow of goods and people, the development of single inspection mechanism on border points.
Software development, however, also includes the development of non-physical assets such as training and HRD. It includes preparation for dealing with challenges that may come with greater connectivity and mobility of people such as public health issues and transnational crimes.
That is why Thailand, as a Development Partner, attaches importance to promoting HRD and fighting public health menace for example.
Hence Thailand’s recent upgrading of the Mekong Institute located in Khon Kaen province to an international organization that will more effectively promote human resources development in the Mekong Sub-Region.
Hence Thailand’s establishment of an ACMECS seed fund of 2.5 million US dollars to address avian flu in the region.
Third, development cooperation could be made more cost effective through trilateral cooperation arrangements.
This involves a developed country (such as Japan) and a developing country with expertise (such as Thailand), drawing on their respective comparative advantages, working together to assist another developing country.
In this connection, Japan and Thailand have already joined hands on a number of occasions to promote development cooperation projects in the Mekong Sub-Region, for example the construction of a bridge linking Mukdahan and Savannakhet.
In the ACMECS, we are ready to play a role with Japan in undertaking the study of the development of Savannakhet Airport.
Thailand looks forward to working with Japan and in cooperation with the countries of the Mekong Sub-Region to identify other projects and areas where trilateral cooperation for development can be applied in the Mekong Sub-Region.
Fourth, we need to stimulate the interest and action of the private sector in the Mekong Sub-Region, including through public-private partnerships.
Such partnerships are being employed successfully in other fora such as the United Nations.
Coca-Cola provides transportation to UNICEF to deliver supplies to remote places. Ericsson provides communications equipment to assist UN relief operations.
Can Japanese companies team up with governments in Mekong Sub-Region, including local governments, to initiate a cooperation project in an area where a strong demand has been identified by the host country?
Can the private sector of Japan work with the Government of Japan as well as regional and international financial institutions to find innovative ways to promoting trade and investment in the Mekong Sub-Region?
Can we set up a Mekong-Japan Business Council to promote trade and investment by the business sector of the countries concerned?
Fifth, let us not forget that our development cooperation should be demand-driven, guided by the priorities and needs of the host country who should be involved in all phases of decision-making. Mr. Chairman,
In closing, I hope that from this meeting, there will be concrete actions and projects that will contribute to closing the development gaps in the Mekong Sub-Region.
We may need to think of an action plan that will lay out future courses of action that will ensure effective follow up work and complementarity with activities in other regional frameworks.
As a country that is part of the Mekong Sub-Region and as a Development Partner, Thailand stands ready to continue to contribute, in close cooperation with its neighbours and Japan, to addressing the developmental challenges of the Mekong Sub-Region.
Because our shared goal and vision remains unchanged -- to bring greater prosperity for the peoples living in this Sub-Region.
At the end of the day, is this not a win-win situation for all?
Thank you.
Prime Minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Press Division, Department of Information Tel.(02) 643-5170
Fax. (02) 643-5169 E-mail : div0704@mfa.go.th End.
-PM-
Mr. Chairman,
Fellow Ministers,
Distinguished Delegates,
I would like to join my fellow ministers who have spoken before me in commending the Government of Japan for organizing this important meeting.
This initiative brings together the countries of the Mekong Sub-Region and Japan in a collective enterprise -- one based on shared goals and aspirations. These are to advance sustainable development in the Mekong Sub-Region, to create more opportunities there, to attain greater prosperity for the peoples.
So let me state first and foremost -- that this initiative has the full support of the Royal Thai Government.
This initiative reflects the political commitment of Japan, in concrete terms, to become more engaged in the economic destiny of the Mekong Sub-Region.
Such enhanced engagement by Japan is warmly welcomed.
Such enhanced engagement by Japan is only natural, given Japan’s long history of relations with the countries in the region and its vibrant economic presence in the region’s economies. Indeed, Japan is in the top three as foreign investor for three Mekong countries and as trading partner in two.
Such engagement by Japan is mutually beneficial. The Mekong Sub-Region has great potential and promise, with its abundance of resources and population of 300 million, linking Northeast Asia and South Asia, the Indian Ocean and Pacific -- opportunities for Japanese companies.
At the same time, because of greater interdependence, the developmental challenges of the Mekong Sub-Region, if left unaddressed, can eventually affect the continued prosperity of Japan, the progress in the development of an ASEAN Community, even the realization of an East Asian community.
So we are all joint stakeholders in the prosperity of the Mekong Sub-Region.
Mr. Chairman,
Thailand, like Japan, attaches great importance to the development of the Mekong Sub-Region.
Because we are an integral part of the Mekong Sub-Region. Through geography and history. Through economic interactions and cross-flows of peoples.
Thailand’s economic destiny is inextricably linked to that of the countries of the Mekong. Cross-border trade volume alone in 2006 grew at a rate of 14.47 percent, with total trade volume of 5.5 billion US dollars.
And since we believe that prosperous neighbours make for even better neighbours, Thailand takes its role as Development Partner of the Mekong Sub-Region seriously. This Development Partnership role, which represents Goal 8 of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), manifests itself in our development cooperation polices at the bilateral and regional levels.
Bilaterally, from 1995 to 2006, Thailand has contributed some 55 million US dollars in technical cooperation through the Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA), focussing mainly on our neighbouring countries in the Mekong Sub-Region. In 2006, almost six million US dollars was disbursed in development cooperation programmes in our neighbours.
So far, Thailand has approved financial packages of about 200 million US dollars from Thailand’s Neighbouring Countries Economic Development Cooperation Agency (NEDA) for 16 infrastructure projects linking Thailand with neighbouring countries. Currently, Thailand is preparing to provide a soft loan for another road construction project (R68) in our neighbour Cambodia.
At the regional level, Thailand contributes through the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) and the Vientiane Action Programme (VAP), through the Greater Mekong Sub-Region (GMS), the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS), the Mekong River Commission (MRC).
But solving the developmental challenges of the Mekong Sub-Region is something that Thailand and its neighbours cannot accomplish alone. We need other Development Partners: other countries, international organizations and financial institutions.
Mr. Chairman,
So how do we best go about solving the challenges of development in the Mekong Sub-Region?
First, we need to have complementarity and synergy -- in the development cooperation programmes across the various regional frameworks of cooperation.
We need to coordinate, streamline and integrate the various projects, from infrastructure development to HRD, from trade and investment promotion to tourism, whether in the GMS, ACMECS, ASEAN+3 or the Mekong River Commission (MRC).
Here, a good example is Japan’s contribution of 20 million US dollars for the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC) and 2nd EWEC will be of great added value to the broader regional effort to improve logistics in the Mekong Sub-Region and the road networks linking East to West, North to South.
But coordination of projects needs to be matched with integration of strategies across these regional frameworks.
I propose that we give importance to further identifying how such coordination of projects, integration of strategies can take place. Here, we can make use of expertise and experience of bodies such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP).
To supplement these development cooperation strategies, niche roles for the various Development Partners need to be identified.
Where is Japan’s niche role? This is something that we will have to work out together, at this meeting and beyond.
Second, we need to give more importance to the “software” side of development cooperation. This point is part of a key recommendation made by the ADB’s Midterm Review of the Greater Mekong Sub-Region Strategic Framework 2002-2012.
The software side includes rules and regulations governing the effective use of “hardware” such as transportation networks. Here, we need to accelerate the conclusion of agreements to surmount obstacles to free flow of goods and people, the development of single inspection mechanism on border points.
Software development, however, also includes the development of non-physical assets such as training and HRD. It includes preparation for dealing with challenges that may come with greater connectivity and mobility of people such as public health issues and transnational crimes.
That is why Thailand, as a Development Partner, attaches importance to promoting HRD and fighting public health menace for example.
Hence Thailand’s recent upgrading of the Mekong Institute located in Khon Kaen province to an international organization that will more effectively promote human resources development in the Mekong Sub-Region.
Hence Thailand’s establishment of an ACMECS seed fund of 2.5 million US dollars to address avian flu in the region.
Third, development cooperation could be made more cost effective through trilateral cooperation arrangements.
This involves a developed country (such as Japan) and a developing country with expertise (such as Thailand), drawing on their respective comparative advantages, working together to assist another developing country.
In this connection, Japan and Thailand have already joined hands on a number of occasions to promote development cooperation projects in the Mekong Sub-Region, for example the construction of a bridge linking Mukdahan and Savannakhet.
In the ACMECS, we are ready to play a role with Japan in undertaking the study of the development of Savannakhet Airport.
Thailand looks forward to working with Japan and in cooperation with the countries of the Mekong Sub-Region to identify other projects and areas where trilateral cooperation for development can be applied in the Mekong Sub-Region.
Fourth, we need to stimulate the interest and action of the private sector in the Mekong Sub-Region, including through public-private partnerships.
Such partnerships are being employed successfully in other fora such as the United Nations.
Coca-Cola provides transportation to UNICEF to deliver supplies to remote places. Ericsson provides communications equipment to assist UN relief operations.
Can Japanese companies team up with governments in Mekong Sub-Region, including local governments, to initiate a cooperation project in an area where a strong demand has been identified by the host country?
Can the private sector of Japan work with the Government of Japan as well as regional and international financial institutions to find innovative ways to promoting trade and investment in the Mekong Sub-Region?
Can we set up a Mekong-Japan Business Council to promote trade and investment by the business sector of the countries concerned?
Fifth, let us not forget that our development cooperation should be demand-driven, guided by the priorities and needs of the host country who should be involved in all phases of decision-making. Mr. Chairman,
In closing, I hope that from this meeting, there will be concrete actions and projects that will contribute to closing the development gaps in the Mekong Sub-Region.
We may need to think of an action plan that will lay out future courses of action that will ensure effective follow up work and complementarity with activities in other regional frameworks.
As a country that is part of the Mekong Sub-Region and as a Development Partner, Thailand stands ready to continue to contribute, in close cooperation with its neighbours and Japan, to addressing the developmental challenges of the Mekong Sub-Region.
Because our shared goal and vision remains unchanged -- to bring greater prosperity for the peoples living in this Sub-Region.
At the end of the day, is this not a win-win situation for all?
Thank you.
Prime Minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Press Division, Department of Information Tel.(02) 643-5170
Fax. (02) 643-5169 E-mail : div0704@mfa.go.th End.
-PM-