Thailand and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP) will co-organise the 3rd High-Level Brainstorming Dialogue on Enhancing Complementarities between the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (HLBD) on 29 March 2019 at the United Nations Conference Centre (UNCC) in Bangkok. The Meeting will be co-chaired by H.E. Mr. Don Pramudwinai, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand, and H.E. Ms. Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Under Secretary-General of the UN and Executive Secretary of UN ESCAP. Participants will comprise high-level representatives from ASEAN Member States, ASEAN Secretariat, UN agencies, World Bank and Asian Development Bank as well as ASEAN’s external partners that have a strong interest in promoting sustainable development in ASEAN. 

 

The 3rd HLBD will further advance cooperation on enhancing complementarities between the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, also known as the “Complementarities Initiative”. Following the 2nd HLBD in March 2018, this Meeting will review the progress made and explore new concrete project ideas on sustainable development cooperation in the region. Furthermore, there will be a brainstorming session to discuss the development of an indicative “Complementarities Roadmap”, which will set out concrete action to take forward sustainable development in ASEAN. The focus of the said Roadmap will be based on five priority areas, namely (1) poverty eradication, (2) infrastructure and connectivity, (3) sustainable management of natural resources, (4) sustainable consumption and production, and (5) resilience, as identified in the “Complementarities Report” jointly developed by Thailand, UN ESCAP and the ASEAN Secretariat in 2017. 

 

Thailand was mandated by ASEAN to be the ASEAN Coordinator on Sustainable Development Cooperation in 2016. Since then, Thailand has been working closely with all ASEAN Member States, UN agencies and ASEAN’s external partners to drive forward the Complementarities Initiative. As the Chair of ASEAN in 2019, Thailand will also launch the ASEAN Centre for Sustainable Development Studies and Dialogue (ACSDSD) in Thailand this November, with the aim of promoting research and studies as well as policy dialogue in order to pursue sustainable development and improving the well-being of the people of ASEAN.