Mr. Panich Vikitsreth, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, on behalf of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, is scheduled to participate in the 2nd ASEAN-GCC Ministerial Meeting in Singapore, from 31 May to 1 June 2010.
The 2nd ASEAN-GCC Ministerial Meeting will be held in a retreat format to allow free flow of discussion and exchange of ideas. The objective of this Meeting is to promote dialogue between the two regions, which will enhance understanding, support dialogue among civilization and the culture of peace, as well as to enhance ASEAN-GCC connectivity and discuss ways to invest in ASEAN Connectivity projects.
The Meeting will also focus on the follow up to the drafting of the Action Plan for ASEAN-GCC Cooperation (2010-2012), which will be a guideline for cooperation in trade and investment, economic and development, education, culture and information. Furthermore, the Meeting will discuss other areas of cooperation, such as food security, energy security, mitigation and adaptation efforts on climate change, and people-to-people contact.
On this occasion, Vice Foreign Minister Panich will pay a courtesy call on Mr. Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore, at Istana (Office of the President of Singapore). In addition, he will have bilateral discussions with Foreign Ministers as well as Representatives from the GCC Member States to further advance cooperation in bilateral issues.
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is a regional grouping of 6 Gulf States, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The 1st ASEAN-GCC Ministerial Meeting was held in Manama, Bahrain, on 30 June 2010, in which Mr. Kasit Piromya, Minister of Foreign Affairs co-chaired the Meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain.
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