On 2 September 2010, Mrs. Chitriya Pinthong, Deputy Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and Ms. Judith Cefkin, Charg'e d'Affaires a.i. of the US Embassy in Thailand, co-chaired the opening ceremony of “10th Meeting of the ARF Inter-Sessional Meeting on Disaster Relief” being held during 2-3 September 2010, at Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel in Bangkok.
As Thailand has been recognized as a leading country in promoting joint cooperation on disaster relief, particularly after the tsunami in 2005 and the Cylcone Nargis in 2008 that caused severe damage in Southeast Asia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, in cooperation with the Ministry of Defense and the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, Ministry of Interior, was honoured to host and co-chair the meeting with the United States.
The meeting was attended by Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General of ASEAN, as a guest speaker, together with 26 member countries of the ARF and the European Union and executive directors from various disaster management centers in the Asia-Pacific region to exchange views on the management of disaster relief to the victims of natural disasters.
ARF is an important forum in strengthening security and stability of the Asia-Pacific region, which also covers the issue of disaster relief cooperation. Since the world’s environmental condition has changed with the emergence of new threats of natural disaster, multilateral cooperation of the international community to provide assistance to affected countries plays a very significant role on the matter.
Being the host of the meeting reflects Thailand’s endeavour to protect lives and properties of the peoples in the country and the Asia-Pacific Region from natural disasters and to provide assistance to affected countries with the networking and support of the international community, international organizations such as the United Nations and regional disaster relief centers. The sharing of experience, technological and technical assistance, strategic planning and best practices among parties concerned are very important factors on the matter.
In addition, the aforesaid meeting also reflects Thailand’s role in the international arena in the area of humanitarian assistance, and strengthens the ASEAN centrality in handling disaster relief in the Asia-Pacific region in order to achieve the long-term goal, which is to set efficient best practices that connect with the global management under the United Nations.
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