On 13 May 2009, Mr. Kasit Piromya, Minister of Foreign Affairs, gave an interview to the media on preparations for the 14th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits. Gist as follows:
- The 14th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits, initially proposed by Thailand to be held during mid-June, will have to be rescheduled to a later date as the proposed dates were inconvenient for some leaders whose schedules during the upcoming months have already been fixed. So far, two alternative dates have been suggested by some ASEAN countries and its dialogue partners, namely, either after the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM)/ Post-Ministerial Conferences (PMC) / ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in July or combined with the 15th ASEAN Summit in October. All countries remain confident in Thailand’s preparedness to host the said events.
- On 19 May 2009, Mr. Virasak Futrakul, Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs, will chair Senior Officials' Meetings of ASEAN, East Asia Summit (EAS) and ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), during which the new dates of the Summits will be discussed.
- Thailand will continue to discharge its responsibilities as the ASEAN Chair, including advocating ASEAN’s role internationally. In this connection, ASEAN leaders and ministers will continue to meet a number of times throughout the year, including during the upcoming ASEAN- ROK Commemorative Summit on Jeju Island and the UN Conference at the Highest Level on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development in New York in June.
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
-PM-