On 25 November 2020, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs co-hosted the 3rd Asia-Pacific Forum for South-South and Triangular Cooperation entitled “The Role of South-South Cooperation in Building Back Better from COVID-19 Pandemic in Asia and the Pacific”, with the Government of the Republic of Indonesia, Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) via video conference. The meeting aimed at exchanging replicable measures and policies countries have adopted in mitigating the COVID-19 crisis through South-South and triangular cooperation and discussing regional and sub-regional South-South support mechanisms and approaches in Asia and the Pacific in the efforts to build back better from COVID-19 pandemic.

At the opening session, Mr. Chutintorn Gongsakdi, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, delivered welcome remarks highlighting the importance of cooperation of countries and stakeholders in combating the pandemic by sharing knowledge and lesson learned through South-South and triangular cooperation including the application of the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP) to promote resilience and sustainable Post-COVID-19 recovery.

Ms. Pattarat Hongtong, Director-General of Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA), participated in the discussion “Showcasing Replicable Good Practices towards Building Back Better from COVID-19 in Asia-Pacific” to present the example from Thailand on a South-South cooperation project entitled “Strengthening Preparedness and Response to the Pandemic of COVID-19” in partnership with neighboring countries. The project focuses on a 3-phase workplan;

1) Short term – online Annual International Training Course (AITC) related to the COVID-19 pandemic, series of webinars and online medical consultation on COVID-19, and TICA’s Knowledge Bank platform,

2) Medium term – provision of necessary medical equipment,

3) Long term – enhancing microbiology laboratory capacity and laboratory cross-border cooperation and knowledge sharing through trilateral cooperation.

The meeting also exchanged views and recommendations between regional and sub-regional organizations in promoting South-South and triangular cooperation on pandemic recovery which countries can apply to their context.

The Forum was initiated by Thailand in collaboration with ESCAP and UNOSSC the first of which was held on 29 June 2018 in Bangkok in parallel with the Regional Consultation on South-South Cooperation in Asia and the Pacific. The 2nd Forum was later hosted by Indonesia on 27 November 2018 in New York in parallel with the Global South-South Development (GSSD) Expo 2018. Moreover, Thailand also hosted a similar forum of ASEAN entitled “Director-Generals Forum of ASEAN Countries on Development Cooperation” on 22-23 August 2019 under Thailand ASEAN Chairmanship in 2019.