Prime Minister Prayut participated in the 11th ASEAN-United Nations Summit where he underscored cooperation between ASEAN-UN through refocusing and reprioritising areas of cooperation, encouraging volunteerism within the ASEAN Community through South-South cooperation, and forging robust partnerships with the private sector under the principle of shared responsibility.

On 15 November 2020, H.E. General Prayut Chan-o-Cha, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand, along with ASEAN leaders, the United Nations Secretary-General, and the Secretary-General of ASEAN, participated in the virtual 11th ASEAN-United Nations Summit as part of the 37th ASEAN Summit and Related Meetings.

Against the backdrop of the 75th anniversary of the United Nations and the 20th anniversay of the ASEAN-UN Summit, Thailand proposed three areas for further ASEAN-UN collaboration: (1) Refocusing and reprioritising areas of cooperation by focusing on human security; (2) Encouraging volunteerism within the ASEAN Community through South-South and trilateral cooperation; and (3) Forging robust partnerships with the private sector and stakeholders under the principle of shared responsibility. Achieving sustainable development could be supported by the complementarities between the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Complementarities Initiative) through the activities of the ASEAN Centre for Sustainable Development Studies and Dialogue (ACSDSD). The UN Secretary-General expressed UN’s readiness to support Thailand’s proposals, particularly in promoting South-South and trilateral cooperation.

The Meeting noted the significant progress in the implementation of the Plan of Action to Implement the Joint Declaration on Comprehensive Partnership between ASEAN and the United Nations (2016-2020) and also took note of the newly adopted Plan of Action (2021-2025). Furthermore, the Meeting discussed regional and international issues of mutual interests, including ensuring equitable access to COVID-19 vaccine, commitment to multilateralism, countering terrorism and preventing violent extremism including hate speech, cybersecurity, disaster management, women empowerment, climate change, and situations in the South China Sea and Rakhine State.