His Excellency Mr. Don Pramudwinai, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand, will attend the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Retreat on 5 – 6 February 2018 in Singapore. 

 

This Foreign Ministers’ Retreat is the first Ministerial Meeting under Singapore’s Chairmanship in 2018 under the theme of “Resilient and Innovative ASEAN.” ASEAN Member States are currently working on two important documents, namely the “ASEAN Leaders’ Vision for a Resilient and Innovative ASEAN”  and “Concept Note on the ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN)” which will be submitted to the ASEAN Leaders for adoption at the 32nd ASEAN Summit in April 2018. 

 

During the Foreign Ministers’ Retreat, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers will follow up on progress on the implementation of the outcomes of the 31st ASEAN Summit in Manila in November 2017. They will also discuss matters related to the strengthening of the ASEAN Community and ASEAN Centrality in the regional architecture as well as promote stronger relations between ASEAN and its external partners and development in regional and global affairs. 

 

Thailand will use this opportunity to update the meeting on the latest developments of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha’s proposals regarding cooperation on sustainable development and the promotion of complementarities between the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Thailand will also inform and invite the ASEAN Member States to attend the 4th Regional Conference on Growth with Security: ASEAN 2025 co-hosted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in May 2018 in Bangkok. Additionally, Thailand will seek support for its initiative for the establishment of the ASEAN Center for Active Aging and Innovation in Thailand. 

 

The aforementioned undertakings are part of the efforts paving the way towards Thailand’s Chairmanship in 2019.