The following is the intervention by PM Prayut Chan-o-cha at the 38th ASEAN summit, delivered via videoconference. The prime minister’s intervention was translated and posted by the Thai government’s public relations division.
“Your Majesty Excellencies,
I want to thank Brunei Darussalam for internet hosting this ASEAN Summit amid many challenges going through the area such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the shifting geopolitical panorama. I additionally warmly welcome the Prime Ministers of the Lao PDR and Malaysia to the ASEAN family. I stand able to work intently with Your Excellencies and hope to fulfill face-to-face with you all quickly.
I commend Brunei Darussalam for having exceptionally chaired ASEAN underneath the theme ‘We Care, We Prepare, We Prosper.’ Thailand absolutely helps this year’s numerous initiatives such as the ASEAN SHIELD, enhancing cooperation on the blue economic system, the Framework for Circular Economy for the ASEAN Economic Community and the event of the ASEAN Community’s Post-2025 Vision together with the proposal to activity the HLTF to debate ways to strengthen ASEAN’s capability and institutional effectiveness. We are dedicated to working with others to make sure the profitable implementation of those initiatives for the benefit of the ASEAN Community in the long term.
It has been almost two years that we have fought with Covid-19. This crisis has severely affected the lives and livelihoods of our peoples and underlines the vulnerability of our area in coping with rising threats that will come up past our expectations. In gentle of this, I am of the view that from now on, not only must ASEAN work to address the Covid-19 pandemic and its impacts, but we also want to look at the teachings learnt from this crisis to reinforce the ASEAN Community’s resilience and preparedness in response to emerging challenges in the future. Toward this end, I wish to share my thoughts on the following points that ASEAN should additional prioritize.
First, we have to make sure the efficient implementation of ASEAN’s initiatives on Covid-19 response. I am happy with the progress in using the Covid-19 ASEAN Response Fund for vaccine procurement. I hope that ASEAN Member States will obtain the vaccines soon and that the remaining funds be used for the procurement of more vaccines sooner or later. Additionally, Thailand has already supplied the record of earmarked gadgets for the ASEAN Regional Reserve of Medical Supplies for Public Health Emergencies and hopes that the Reserve could be operationalized soon.
Looking ahead, ASEAN should additional strengthen our preparedness in response to emerging illnesses and bolster public health security in the lengthy run, together with via promoting cooperation on R&D on vaccines to attain vaccine security and self-reliance within the region. Currently, Thailand is on monitor in our improvement of Covid-19 vaccines and we are able to cooperate with different ASEAN Member States on this matter. However, it is unlucky that ASEAN could not yet resolve the difficulty of the host nation of the ASEAN Centre for Public Health Emergencies and Emerging Diseases. We should subsequently proceed our consultations in a constructive method and attempt to find an innovative approach to enable ASEAN to decide on this problem. Besides being crucial for our credibility and unity, it will also benefit more than 660 million individuals in the ASEAN region.
Second, ASEAN ought to begin reopening and allowing for protected journey to revive our economies. The ASEAN Travel Corridor Arrangement Framework must be utilized, with mutual recognition of vaccines and vaccine certificates to facilitate enterprise travel, and later tourism. In this context, Thailand has already opened up pilot areas underneath the Phuket Sandbox and Samui Plus packages to welcome overseas tourists and will gradually open up more areas in other provinces for international tourism from 1 November onwards. Furthermore, we should keep away from unnecessary measures that may hinder the movement of products to ensure our provide chain connectivity during the pandemic and make higher use of the intra-ASEAN market to stimulate our regional financial system.
To promote an environment conducive to trade and funding and expand business opportunities for our entrepreneurs to assist them recover from the impression of Covid-19, I hope that RCEP can enter into force as per the intended timeline. Thailand plans to submit the instrument of ratification for RCEP to the Secretary-General of ASEAN in early November. ติดตั้งโซล่าเซลล์ที่ไหนดี hope that ASEAN-Canada FTA negotiations may be introduced soon.
Last but not least, Covid-19 and natural catastrophe challenges – be they climate change, floods, forest fires or transboundary haze – replicate the weak spot of current growth approaches that focus totally on economic curiosity, while disregarding the influence on the surroundings and pure resources, which have resulted in intensifying today’s crises. Hence, it’s now time for a paradigm shift in our on a daily basis lives and for achieving a ‘Balance of All Things’. This will help make ASEAN’s restoration and growth extra sustainable, according to the Bio-Circular-Green or BCG Economy Model which for Thailand will allow the nation to reinvent itself for the Next Normal era.
In this context, I imagine that an ‘ASEAN Green Agenda’ should be pursued as an strategy for our region’s future in promoting sustainable and environmentally-friendly economic development, by employing green applied sciences and innovation and prioritizing key points that are according to international tendencies similar to:
1. Transitioning to scrub energy to scale back carbon emissions and address world warming and local weather change;
2. Efficient use of terrestrial and marine resources to preserve biodiversity which will promote meals safety and stop pure disasters including landslides and floods;
3. Digital inclusion to maximize digital technology in numerous aspects corresponding to good farming, survey and monitoring of air pollution and climate, sea degree rise and windstorms, which is according to the aim of ‘Digital ASEAN;’
four. Sustainable city and community growth to promote the welfare and well-being of our peoples dwelling in city and rural areas; and,
5. Green financing to forge a multi-stakeholder partnership to mobilize funds for environmentally-friendly investments.
These points are not new, but success in their pursuit requires transformation from all sectors, which features a change in particular person habits, a change in enterprise conduct and group empowerment. We should promote these because the ASEAN Green Agenda in order to raise public awareness and collectively reinvent ASEAN as a progressive area and a sustainable residence for all of us as well as for succeeding generations with nobody being left behind.
Your Majesty, Excellencies,,