Thailand and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) will host the 2nd High-Level Brainstorming Dialogue on Enhancing Complementarities between the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (HLBD) at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok, on Friday 30 March 2018. The Dialogue is co-chaired by His Excellency Mr. Don Pramudwinai, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand, and Her Excellency Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, Under Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. H.E. Mr. Vongthep Arthakaivalvatee, Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community, and representatives of ASEAN Member States, high-level development from UNDP, UN Women, UN Office of South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), and the World Bank will participate in the Dialogue. Representatives of Germany, as ASEAN’s Development Partner, as well as Switzerland and Norway, as ASEAN’s Sectoral Dialogue Partners, will be also present as guests of the Co-Chairs.

 

The 2nd HLBD will serve as a platform for discussion of key issues in driving the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and achieving the SDGs in a complementary manner. The meeting will launch the Complementarities Report which was jointly presented by Thailand, ESCAP and the ASEAN Secretariat, following the proposals made at the 1st HLBD, which was held last year. The Complementarities Report focuses on 5 important areas to drive sustainable development in ASEAN, comprising (1) Infrastructure and Connectivity (2) Resilience (3) Poverty Eradication (4) Sustainable Production and (5) Consumption and Sustainable Management of Natural Resources. Furthermore, the meeting will discuss the Complementarities Roadmap 2018 – 2019, to convert sustainable development in ASEAN into concrete deliverables, as well as the establishment of an ASEAN Centre for Sustainable Development Studies and Dialogue in Bangkok.    

 

Thailand has been the ASEAN Coordinator for Sustainable Development Cooperation since February 2016, and has closely consulted with the relevant organizations as well as ASEAN’s partners for development and ASEAN’s sectoral dialogue partners. The main purpose is to implement concrete projects to promote  a sustainable and prosperous living for the people of Thailand and ASEAN.