On 30 March 2009 at 15.00 hrs., Mr. Vitavas Srivihok, Director-General of the Department of ASEAN Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave a press briefing on the preparations for the 14th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits to be held at Royal Cliff Hotel, Pattaya on 10-12 April 2009. Gist as follows:
Every participating country has officially confirmed attendance of its leaders, apart from India which is yet to confirm given Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s health issue. If Dr. Singh could not attend, Mr. Kamal Nath, Minister of Commerce and Industry of India, will be representing him as India’s special envoy.
The Summit begins on the evening of 10 April 2009 with an informal working dinner of the ASEAN leaders. ASEAN Plus One Summits with China, the Republic Korea, and Japan, respectively, are scheduled for 11 April, to be followed by the ASEAN Plus Three Summit and ASEAN Summit Plus One with India in the afternoon. On 12 April, the East Asia Summit (EAS), or the so-called ASEAN Plus 6 Summit, will be held amongst the leaders from the ASEAN Member States and the leaders of 6 ASEAN dialogue partners, namely China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.
The theme of this Summit is “Acting Together to Cope with Global Challenges”, and global economic and financial crisis, food and bio-energy security, and disaster management are among the central issues that the leaders will discuss.
The total of 26 outcome documents are expected to be considered during the Summits, including the ‘Pattaya Statement on ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation on Food Security and Bio-Energy Development’, the ‘Pattaya Statement on East Asia Summit (EAS) Disaster Management’, the ‘Mutual Recognition Arrangement on Good Manufacturing Practice of Medicinal Products’, and the ‘ASEAN- China Investment Agreement.’
In addition, the Third ASEAN-UN Summit is scheduled to be convened on 12 April 2009. This Summit will be an opportunity for ASEAN leaders and Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, to discuss regional and international issues of mutual interest including development, food and energy security, climate change, disaster management, and issues of the global financial crisis.
The upcoming Summit will also see the leaders of international financial and economic institutions, such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), discuss with the leaders of countries participating in the EAS. In this connection, a separate event called “ASEAN Global Dialogue”, co-hosted by Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General of ASEAN and the Royal Thai Government, will be held on the evening of 12 April in Bangkok. The event is expected to be an opportunity for the guest speakers from the international financial and economic institutions and participants to exchange views and experiences on global challenges that have tremendous impact on the region, in particular the global financial crisis.
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