As the year 2017 marks an important milestone of the founding of ASEAN, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand by the Department of ASEAN Affairs, is organizing activities commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of ASEAN.

In the morning, the activities include The “Special Lecture on ASEAN in the Next 50 Years” given by H. E. Ambassador Ong Keng Yong, former Secretary-General of ASEAN as the Keynote Speaker, on 4 September 2017, from 11.00 to 12.00 hrs., at Naradhip Auditorium. This Special Lecture will focus on the future direction and development of ASEAN in various aspects in the next 50 years and provide a platform for people to raise their expectation of ASEAN. Activities also include ASEAN Day Reception hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and an exhibition on the 50th Anniversary of ASEAN with special display of replica of the ASEAN Declaration in front of Vithes Samosorn, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Ambassador Ong Keng Yong is Executive Deputy Chairman of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He was also Ambassador-at-large at the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs, non-resident High Commissioner to Pakistan. Ambassador Ong was High Commissioner of Singapore to Malaysia. He also served as Secretary-General of ASEAN from January 2003 to January 2008. These historic milestone events are part of series of commemorative events marking ASEAN’s Golden Jubilee on 8 August 2017. As for the commemorative events in Thailand, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs initiated “the 50th Anniversary of ASEAN Special Lecture Series” to create awareness about ASEAN at the national level and to set the tone for the next 50 years throughout this year.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand will organize several constructive activities contributing to the region as a whole, which will include 1) An Open Roundtable between the Department of ASEAN Affairs and Experts on ASEAN in preparation for Thailand’ ASEAN Chairmanship in 2019 , from 9:00 to 10:30 hrs., at Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This roundtable features a brainstorming session between the Department of ASEAN Affairs, government representatives, academics from ASEAN Center Studies, Higher Education institutions under a Memorandum of Understanding on Enhancing Knowledge and Understanding of Cultural Diversity in ASEAN, to discuss way forward to promote academic cooperation under Track 1.5 Diplomacy, which can contribute to one of deliverables when Thailand will assume the Chairmanship of ASEAN in 2019 and 2) An Interface with Mr. Ong Keng Yong, former Secretary General of ASEAN, from 10:30 – 10:50 hrs., at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It aims to provide a platform for Mr. Ong Keng Young and ASEAN Experts from Thailand to exchange knowledge and experiences, and to further consolidate cooperation between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand and various sectors in driving foreign policy on ASEAN in Thailand

At the same time, the Director-General of the Department of ASEAN Affairs will host a brainstorming session on the topic “Future Direction of ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation and the East Asia Economic community (EAEc) Idea: the Way Forward” with participations of the Secretary-Generals of the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC), ASEAN-Japan Centre (AJC), ASEAN-Korea Centre (AKC) and a representative from Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), as well representatives from relevant Thai government agencies. This activity aims to provide a platform for discussing and exchanging ideas on the future direction of the ASEAN Plus Three Framework, paving the way towards the establishment of the East Asia Economic community (EAEc), which will become the main driving force of the ASEAN Plus Three Framework. This initiative also will support Thailand’s chairmanship of ASEAN in 2019.

Issues that will become increasingly important will be the future direction of cooperation of the ASEAN Plus Three Framework, especially the idea of establishing an EAEc of which many countries, including China and the Republic of Korea, have started to touch upon at the ASEAN Plus Three Foreign Ministers Meeting on 7 August 2017 in Manila. Thailand’s Minister of Foreign Affairs has also proposed further study into this concept. In this connection, the early development of this idea is crucial for ASEAN to maintain its centrality on this initiative. Thailand, therefore, will start this process by promoting closer relations and cooperation with the ASEAN-China Centre, ASEAN-Japan Centre, and the ASEAN-Korea Centre. This would serve as the basis for enhancing benefits of Thailand and ASEAN as a whole within the ASEAN Plus Three cooperation.