On 15 February 2010, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya visited the Office of Permanent Representative of Thailand to ASEAN in Jakarta.
On this occasion, he had an opportunity to meet and share his thoughts as well as exchange views with Permanent Representatives (PRs) of ASEAN on ASEAN’s priorities for the next few years and the role of the Committee of the Permanent Representatives (CPR) as a prime mover in the Community Building process by 2015. Foreign Minister Kasit underscored the need for ASEAN to enhance connectivity in the region through infrastructure development, cross border facilitation and cultural and historical appreciation. He also underlined the need to maintain ASEAN centrality in the evolving regional architecture and to engage active civil society’s participation and those of ASEAN’s friends and dialogue partners in the ASEAN Community building. In addition, Foreign Minister Kasit emphasized the vital role of the CPR in supporting and enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of the ASEAN Secretariat and in coordinating the work of the ASEAN sectoral bodies.
Earlier on the same day, Mr. Mackenzie Clugston, the Canadian Ambassador to ASEAN, paid a courtesy call on Foreign Minister Kasit. During the meeting, the Ambassador informed the Minister of Canadian intention to interact more with ASEAN and the recently established Canada’s ASEAN Network which is the meeting of Canadian Ambassadors in Southeast Asia aiming to exchange views and information. Foreign Minister Kasit suggested that Canada could strengthen cooperation with ASEAN by providing assistance in areas where it had expertise such as infrastructure and connectivity development as well as promotion of democracy, human rights and good governance. In doing so, he recommended Canada to make use of existing institution in the region such as AIT, Mekong Institute, ILEA, UNESCAP, ADB and ERIA. Thailand is presently country coordinator for ASEAN dialogue relations with Canada.
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