On 19 May 2014, H.E. Mr. Sihasak Phuangketkeow, Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Thailand, delivered the opening statement at the Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD). The APFSD is hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in collaboration with ESCAP, during 19 – 21 May 2014 at the Royal Cliff Hotel, Pattaya.  More than 200 representatives including Ministers and Senior Officials from 53 ESCAP Member States and 9 Associate Member States have attended this forum.   

In his opening statement, the Permanent Secretary expressed that there are numbers of “unfinished agenda” from MDGs that need to be carried over beyond 2015. For Thailand, some of the issues that should deserve closer attention are poverty eradication, inequality, disaster risk reduction and preparedness, better access to quality health care and universal health coverage, among others.

The Permanent Secretary urged that means of implementation are indispensable for achieving the full and effective realization of sustainable development, especially among developing countries. He emphasized the importance of science, technology and innovation, addressing digital divide, innovative means to mobilize financial resources and strengthening global partnership for sustainable development.

Stressing on the importance of developing countries in the Post-2015 Development Agenda, the Permanent Secretary urged that it should continue to take into account special needs and interests of developing countries, especially the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States.  He also stressed that civil liberty, individual freedom and democracy are fundamental enablers and development outcome in their own right.

Regional cooperation is vital to the global efforts to formulate a Post-2015 development agenda. The Permanent Secretary announced that ASEAN Member States are working toward the ASEAN Community's Post-2015 vision, which could include a possibility of coming up with the so-called ASEAN Development Goals. These goals would reflect the aspiration of being a people-centered ASEAN and provide an impetus to the realization of the agreed goals at the international level.