On 22 February 2009, Mr. Kasit Piromya, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, ASEAN Secretary-General, delivered speeches and took part in the “CSO Dialogue with ASEAN” in the ASEAN Peoples’ Forum
On 22 February 2009, Mr. Kasit Piromya, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, ASEAN Secretary-General, delivered speeches and took part in the “CSO Dialogue with ASEAN” in the ASEAN Peoples’ Forum, which was held on 20-22 February 2009, at Chulalongkorn University. Over 500 participants from 55 civil society organizations from the ASEAN member countries and interested media attended the event.
The Foreign Minister affirmed the Thai government’s effort to promote engagement of the civil society sector in the human development and in the area of human rights and encourage the empowerment of the sector in the ASEAN countries, which will compliment the democratic society in the region. The Foreign Minister also stated that the civil society had become a new force of Thai society, especially as a political force in shaping the country’s direction. In addition, he assured a partnership between ASEAN and NGOs, foundations and other civil society organizations.
The ASEAN Secretary-General reiterated the ‘wide open space’ for the civil society enshrined in the ASEAN Charter. The participation of the civil society, the Socio-Cultural pillar, will be the determinant factor of the success or failure of the remaining pillars, the Security and Economic pillars. The Secretary-General also stated that the ASEAN Charter is only a skeleton for the people-oriented ASEAN, the people of ASEAN is the key to the ‘living ASEAN’ and to drive forward the ASEAN community.
On this occasion, the Foreign Minister expressed his views and answered the questions concerned by participants from the civil society, ranging from political security, food security and social issues. He assured the audience that fairness in free trade will be addressed and reintroduced in the upcoming G-20 Summit in April 2009 and in other multilateral cooperation.
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