Opening Remarks

Deputy Secretary-General Hoang Anh Tuan, Excellencies,

Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

On behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society of the Kingdom of Thailand, I would like to welcome all of you to the International Conference on Cybersecurity: Implications on Peace and Security in the ASEAN Region. Let me state at the outset: promoting cybersecurity is an important ingredient in the development of sustainable ASEAN Community that is prepared for the future. It is therefore a key priority of Thailand’s ASEAN chairmanship.

 

ASEAN is the fastest growing Internet marketห in the world. The ASEAN digital economy has played an increasingly important role as the potential driving force of our economy. According to McKinsey Global Institute, disruptive technologies, particularly, mobile Internet, big data, cloud technology, the Internet of Things, the automation of knowledge work and the Social-Mobile-Analytics- Cloud, could potentially unleash some $220 billion to $625 billion in annual economic impact in ASEAN by 2030.

 

This year, Thailand’s ASEAN Chairmanship is conducted under the theme of “Advancing Partnership for Sustainability.” We aim to promote sustainability in all dimensions, including sustainable security and sustainable economic growth. Our ultimate goal is to realize a “Seamless and Digital ASEAN”, where the region is digitally connected and fully benefit from the technological advances in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

 

However, rapid ICT technological advancement and ever-increasing digital connectivity have been accompanied by trends where cyber threats have become more diverse, complex and impactful. Digital vulnerabilities have been widely exploited by criminal groups to perpetrate cybercrime in a more sophisticated and less preventable manner. This includes ransomware, phishing, online payment fraud, telecom fraud, investment fraud, romance scam, and virtual markets for illegal goods and services. These can be used to influence, distort or disrupt policies of countries or even regional and international peace and conflict management processes.

 

Building resilience to all forms of threats and transnational crime, including cyber threat and cybercrime, is thus an important element in achieving sustainable security and a key factor in ensuring sustainable economic growth.

 

This Conference reaffirms Thailand’s firm commitment to implementing the ASEAN Leaders’ Statement on Cybersecurity Cooperation adopted during the 32nd  ASEAN Summit in 2018. We are committed to enhancing awareness on cybersecurity and advance cooperation within ASEAN, and with partners from all sectors, whether they be government, public, private and civil sectors to address this non-traditional security challenges. Promoting cybersecurity is “whole of nation” endeavour and, at the regional level, requires a “whole of ASEAN” approach.

 

This International Conference on Cybersecurity: Implications on Peace and Security in the ASEAN Region has been initiated to implement in an effective and practical manner the ASEAN Leaders’ Statement on  Cybersecurity Cooperation, the first-ever ASEAN Leaders’ statement on cybersecurity cooperation. The Statement and this international conference are the reflection of the urgency that the ASEAN Community attaches to building closer cooperation and coordination on cybersecurity policy development and capacity building initiatives. The Conference also aims at supporting, and not duplicating, other ASEAN’s frameworks and mechanisms that are working in this area such as the ASEAN Ministerial Conference on Cybersecurity (AMCC), the ASEAN Telecommunications and Information Technology Ministers’ Meeting (TELMIN), the ARF Inter-Sessional Meeting on Security of and in the Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ISM on ICTs Security) and the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting with Dialogue Partners (ADMM-Plus).

 

As for Thailand, we have always attached importance to cooperation with ASEAN and the international community in the area of cybersecurity. That is why on 14 September 2018, Thailand officially inaugurated the ASEAN-Japan Cybersecurity Capacity Building Centre in Bangkok to serve as a training centre for public authorities and information infrastructure companies in ASEAN. This ASEAN-Japan Centre will work in partnership with other centres in the region to advance the shared regional agenda of promoting cybersecurity. Indeed, the Centre is one of seven ASEAN centres that Thailand plans to launch this year to translate Thailand’s policy commitment to building a people-centred ASEAN Community that leaves no one behind and leads to the future.

 

Today, I am pleased to see that there are many people, especially young people, who are interested and aware of cyber threats and cybercrime. I would like to thank our co-chairs, our distinguished speakers and all our supporters, namely ASEAN Member States and the ASEAN Secretariat, Australia, the ASEAN Network Security Action Council, Cyber Security Agency of Singapore, the United Nations office on Drugs and Crime, Microsoft, Cisco and Palo Alto for contributing to the success of this conference.

 

I wish all of you a fruitful result of the Conference. Thank you.