Director-General of the Department of East Asian Affairs joined the panel discussion at the Republic of Korea (ROK) – Australia Forum on Support for Southeast Asia and ASEAN: Building Vaccine Cooperation, Capacity and Security for Post COVID-19 Recovery, advocating economic cooperation on the post COVID-19 recovery.

On 29 June 2021, Ms. Arjaree Sriratanaban, Director-General of the Department of East Asian Affairs, participated in a discussion on “Cooperation for Economic Recovery” during the session entitled “Post COVID-19 Recovery in Southeast Asia” at the Republic of Korea (ROK) – Australia Forum on Support for Southeast Asia and ASEAN (“Building Vaccine Cooperation, Capacity and Security for Post COVID-19 Recovery”), organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the ROK and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Commonwealth of Australia. The objective of the Forum was to promote public health and economic cooperation among the ROK, Australia and Southeast Asia, which is in line with the ROK’s New Southern Policy Plus and Australia’s Vision for the Indo-Pacific as well as the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework (ACRF).

On this occasion, the Director-General of the Department of East Asian Affairs exchanged views on ways to enhance cooperation among Thailand, ASEAN Member States and Dialogue Partners, including the ROK and Australia, to boost economic recovery in the post COVID-19 era. The Director-General highlighted three main areas of cooperation: (1) Equitable access to vaccines against COVID-19, including exchanges of information and experiences and provision of technical assistance through trilateral cooperation to promote capacity-building in addressing the pandemic; (2) Promoting international trade and investment flows through multilateral cooperation by fully utilising existing Free Trade Agreements and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and re-connecting the connectivities in the region, including software infrastructure, smart logistics and digital economies; and (3) Promoting sustainable development by implementing the Bio-Circular-Green Economy Model through quadrilateral partnership among government, private sector, academia and the people for a more balanced and sustainable growth with regard to the environment.

In addition, the panelists also exchanged views on the procurement and distribution of vaccines against COVID-19 as well as ways to address the pandemic. There were convergence of views on issues concerning economic recovery, especially on the importance of multilateral cooperation in facilitating international trade and investment and the enhancement of connectivity, particularly in digital economy and e-commerce.