The Third Conference on Cooperation among East Asian Countries

for Palestinian Development (CEAPAD III)

On 27 June 2018, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand and Japan co-hosted the Third Conference on Cooperation among East Asian Countries for Palestinian Development (CEAPAD III) in Bangkok. H.E. Air Chief Marshal Prajin Juntong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice of the Kingdom of Thailand delivered the opening remarks on behalf of the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand.

The meeting was co-chaired by H.E. Mr. Don Pramudwinai, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand, H.E. Mr. Taro Kono, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan and H.E. Mr. Riad Al-Malki, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the State of Palestine. Thirteen countries and organisations participated in CEAPAD III, namely, H.E. Ms. Retno L.P. Marsudi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, H.E. Dr. Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Singapore, and H.E. Mr. Pierre Krähenbühl, Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), as well as representatives from Brunei Darussalam, Viet Nam, Malaysia, Islamic Development Bank, World Bank, the League of Arab States, the Office of the Quartet, Egypt, and the Republic of Korea.

During the meeting, participants reviewed their assistance to Palestine and adopted the Joint Statement, which not only described the past activities, but emphasized their commitment to promote the CEAPAD initiative as an active forum to coordinate the sharing of experiences and knowledge to support the socio-economic development of Palestine. The Joint Statement addressed key issues such as the Three-Year Plan (2019 – 2021), which provided the guidelines for CEAPAD participating countries in implementing their capacity building programs based on their resources and expertise and in line with the needs of Palestine, focusing cooperation in the fields of water, tourism and antiquities, agriculture, local governance, economic sectors including SMEs, vocational training, finance, education, ICT, etc. Participants decided to continue their support for UNRWA, which played an important role in providing humanitarian assistance to Palestinian refugees. They welcomed the CEAPAD Facilitation Mechanism (CEAFAM), which provides financial support to NGOs to conduct development activities. Participants also welcomed regional cooperation projects such as the Jericho Agro-Industrial Park (JAIP), the flagship project of Japan’s “Corridor for Peace and Prosperity” and the Islamic Development Bank’s Deprived Families Economic Empowerment Programme (DEEP). The participants reaffirmed their commitment to the CEAPAD initiative and showed strong will to produce concrete and tangible results by the next CEAPAD Ministerial Meeting.