The Prime Minister of Thailand reiterated Thailand’s support to ASEAN centrality in the regional architecture for durable peace and sustainable growth in the region and proposed EAS members to enhance cooperation during COVID-19 towards concrete outcomes by focusing on public health security, economic resilience and human capital development in 15th East Asia Summit.

 

On 14 November 2020, H.E. General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand, participated in the 15th East Asia Summit (EAS) via videoconference. The Summit was chaired by the Prime Minister of Viet Nam, and attended by the Leaders and representatives from 18 EAS participating countries, namely the 10 ASEAN Member States, Australia, China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Russia, and the United States as well as the Secretary-General of the United Nations, President of the World Bank and the Secretary-General of the ASEAN.

 

Prime Minister Prayut expressed congratulations on the 15th anniversary of the EAS and emphasised that the EAS has been a mechanism for frank and constructive discussions on strategic issues to promote durable peace and sustainable growth in the region, and for building mutual trust and confidence by attaching importance to multilateralism and regionalism, whereby seeking common grounds and setting aside the differences.

 

Prime Minister Prayut also urged to enhance cooperation in public health security, economic resilience and human capital development by utilising various mechanisms and centres. He suggested that the EAS should also push forward the development of digital ecosystem and promotion of common digital standard in order to connect regional economy in an integrated manner.

 

The Meeting stressed the serious impacts of COVID-19 pandemic and the need for all countries to work together towards economic recovery and mitigate its socio-economic impacts. The UN Secretary-General emphasised the importance of global solidarity, especially in developing accessible COVID-19 vaccines and close cooperation in the post COVID-19 world in addressing non-traditional challenges such as climate change and reducing inequaltiy and development gap. Meanwhile, the President of the World Bank expressed readiness to work with all countries in tackling COVID-19, particularly by providing technical advice on vaccine procurement.

 

In addition, the Meeting also emphasised the importance of the EAS as the premier Leaders-led forum for strategic discussion. Participating countries exchanged views on the regional architecture and recent developments in the region where there exist growing uncertainties. The meeting supported ASEAN centrality and agreed that there is a need to enhance the environment conducive to promoting regional peace and stability.

 

The Meeting adopted 5 outcome documents, namely (1) Ha Noi Declaration on the 15th Anniversary of the East Asia Summit (2) East Asia Summit Leaders’ Statement on Marine Sustainability (3) East Asia Summit Leaders’ Statement on Strengthening Collective Capacity in Epidemics Prevention and Response (4) East Asia Summit Leaders’ Statement on Women, Peace, and Security (5) East Asia Summit Leaders’ Statement on Cooperation to Promote Steady Growth of Regional Economy