Thailand, as a member of the Asia - Europe Meeting (ASEM), will host an ASEM Meeting on “Sustainable Marine Environment: Marine Debris” on 3 August 2018 at Centara Grand at Central Plaza Ladprao Bangkok.

          The meeting aims to promote cooperation and exchange best practices between Asia and Europe in the field of marine debris management. In addition to Thai speakers, panelists and discussants from the ASEAN Secretariat, the European Union, Norway, Germany, China, Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), United Nations Environment Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (UNEP), Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), KIMO International and the private sector have been invited to share their experiences in the meeting. The meeting is expected to attract more than
150 participants.

           On this occasion, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand will also organise an exhibition of innovations and technology in marine debris management during 3 - 4 August 2018 at the Ground Floor, Central Plaza Ladprao.The exhibition will display innovations and technology for tackling marine debris by government agencies and representatives of the Thai private sector including Siam Cement Group Public Company Limited (SCG) and Singha Estate Public Company Limited. The exhibition intends to raise awareness on the challenges arising from marine debris and plastic waste as well as provide inspiration to the viewers on innovative thinking to tackle marine debris and pollution both in the present and in the future.

            Recently, Thailand has hosted two ASEAN meetings on marine debris management namely (1) ASEAN Conference on Reducing Marine Debris in ASEAN Region on 22 - 23 November 2017 and (2) ASEAN-China Workshop on Marine Environmental Protection in the South China Sea on 11 - 13 July 2018 in Phuket Province. Therefore, this ASEM Meeting on Sustainable Marine Environment: Marine Debris will extend our cooperation on this important topic to more than 50 ASEM member states. This reaffirms Thailand’s commitment to tackle the marine debris issue and the sustainability of marine resources more effectively as well as to promote ocean governance in a broader regional architecture.

            ASEM is an inter-regional platform for dialogue and cooperation between Asia and Europe. The cooperation covers three pillars of the ASEM process, namely political, economic and social, cultural and education pillars. ASEM is composed of 51 countries, of which 30 are from Europe and 21 are from Asia, and 2 regional organisations, namely
the European Union and the ASEAN Secretariat.