On 8 – 9 March 2018, H.E. Mr. Virasakdi Futrakul, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand, attended the first OECD Southeast Asia Regional Programme (SEARP) Ministerial Conference held in Tokyo, Japan.

Thailand and the Republic of Korea have officially assumed the OECD Southeast Asia Regional Programme (SEARP) Co-Chairmanship for 2018 – 2020.

The Ministerial Conference was organized under the theme of “Inclusive ASEAN”, which brought together Ministers from Southeast Asia and OECD countries to discuss policy challenges and opportunities towards achieving inclusive development in Southeast Asia. During the Conference, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs made two interventions on the topics of “Inclusiveness through Connectivity” and “Inclusiveness through Participation” and participated in the Co-Chairmanship handover ceremony which was part of such Conference.

On this occasion, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs also had bilateral meetings with H.E. Mr. Hyun Cho, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Republic of Korea and Mr. Masamichi Kono, Deputy Secretary-General of OECD.

Thailand’s OECD SEARP Co-Chairmanship reflects the growing dynamism between Thailand and OECD in the recent years. Particularly, Thailand and the OECD are preparing to launch the Country Programme (CP) in the first half of 2018. Under such a Country Programme, Thailand can benefit from OECD in supporting support Thailand’s goal of overcoming the middle-income trap and attaining the high-income status.

The OECD SEARP was conceived at the OECD Ministerial Council in 2014 and attended by high-level participants from Southeast Asian countries. The objective of the OECD SEARP is to strengthen the cooperation between OECD and Southeast Asian countries by supporting ASEAN’s integration efforts and domestic policy reforms and encouraging further partnership in OECD bodies and activities through the exchange of experiences and good practices between the two regions.