The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in collaboration with the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), will host the Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD) during 19 – 21 May 2014 at the Royal Cliff Hotel, Pattaya.

The APFSD will serve as another forum for countries in the Asia and Pacific region to have dialogue and identify regional priorities on sustainable development, including sustainable development goals and the post-2015 development agenda, and to prepare for the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) in July 2014 in New York. 

More than 200 representatives including Ministers and Senior Officials from 53 ESCAP Member States and 9 Associate Member States are expected to attend this forum.   

As a member of the Open Working Group of the General Assembly on Sustainable Development Goals (OWG on SDGs), Thailand has constantly taken a pro-active role in shaping the direction of development issues in the international arena.  The hosting of the APFSD also corresponds to Thailand’s Foreign Policy in promoting Thailand in the international forum as well as strengthening cooperation with the United Nations.

In August last year, Thailand, in collaboration with ESCAP, hosted the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Dialogue: From the Millennium Development Goals to the United Nations Development Agenda beyond 2015 (APMD), which was the first Asia-Pacific regional Ministerial-level event to discuss the United Nations development agenda beyond 2015.

Further information can be found on the APFSD’s website: www.unescap.org/events/apfsd