On 21 July 2010, in Hanoi, Viet Nam, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya attended the 11th ASEAN Plus Three Foreign Ministers Meeting, the East Asia Summit (EAS) Foreign Ministers Informal Consultations and the Third Mekong-Japan Foreign Ministers Meeting.
During the ASEAN Plus Three Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, the Meeting reviewed and discussed the future direction of ASEAN Plus Three cooperation. On his part, Foreign Minister Kasit expressed satisfaction with the progress achieved and pledged Thailand’s commitment to future cooperative endeavours. In this regard, he highlighted the importance of education cooperation, whereby Thailand would host the 1st ASEAN Plus Three Senior Officials Meeting on Education in November 2010 to endorse the revised plan of action and explore the possibility of convening an ASEAN Plus Three Ministers Meeting on Education. Under the said revised plan of action, Thailand would like to promote ASEAN studies and East Asian Studies, which would also be part of the ASEAN Plus Three’s public diplomacy strategy. As for other areas of cooperation, Foreign Minister Kasit underscored the importance of food safety and standards as well as the better and more systematic management of the region’s water resources.
As for the EAS Foreign Ministers Informal Consultations, Foreign Minister Kasit reiterated the importance of the EAS as a strategic forum for discussion of issues pertaining to the region. From Thailand’s perspective, priority issues that should be further pursued include closing the developmental gap in the region, promoting further liberalization of economic regimes, promoting human rights and best practices in such areas as good governance, transparency and the accountability, promoting safety at sea and addressing such issues as piracy and environmental controls, and how to promote more tolerance and reduce prejudices along the lines of interfaith dialogues. The EAS should also address the problem of trafficking in persons and migration issues, especially through closer cooperation on intelligence and the suppression of organized trafficking.
At the Mekong-Japan Foreign Ministers Meeting, Foreign Minister Kasit informed participants about Thailand’s efforts to promote more connectivity within the region. Thailand and Japan have also been working closely together towards this end. Both had sent joint missions to survey the East-West Economic Corridor and the Dawei Seaport. Both would also be co-hosting the Mekong-Japan International Conference on the East-West Economic Corridor and the Southern Economic Corridor in September 2010, under the theme of “Completing Connectivity, Creating Economic Prosperity.”
The Foreign Minister also briefed the Meeting about Thailand’s on-going projects to help develop infrastructure in neighbouring countries, including the construction of the third and fourth bridge over the Mekong River as well as the upgrading of the road from Mae Sot to Kawkreik. In welcoming Japan’s “A Decade towards the Green Mekong” Initiative, the Foreign Minister also proposed that the Initiative could include such areas of cooperation as environmental-friendly economic development and growth, transboundary haze pollution control, solid waste management and recycling, as well as forest conservation and preservation, to name but a few. In undertaking future projects, Foreign Minister Kasit also noted that there should be close coordination with other sub-regional fora, such as the Greater Mekong Sub-Region (GMS), ACMECS and the United States-Lower Mekong Initiative, so as to avoid duplication of work and ensure efficiency.
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