Mrs. Pornpimol Kanchanalak, Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, in her capacity as the Special Envoy of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, attended the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) Ministerial Meeting in Los Angeles between 8-9 September 2022. The Meeting was hosted by U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. Attending the Meeting were the Ministers and high-level representatives from other IPEF partner countries, namely Australia, Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam. The Thai delegation also comprised Deputy Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs Chulamanee Chartsuwan as Thailand’s Senior Official Leader, together with representatives of relevant lead agencies, namely the Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and Ministry of Finance.

The Meeting discussed ways to drive forward IPEF cooperation and announced 4 IPEF Ministerial Statements, covering important cooperation issues under 4 pillars, namely trade, supply chain, clean energy/ decarbonization/ infrastructure, and tax and anti-corruption. The Statements will guide IPEF Partner Countries toward concrete cooperation for sustainable and inclusive growth in the region, which will be further discussed in more detail. The Special Envoy reaffirmed Thailand’s commitment and readiness to work closely with other Partner Countries to steer IPEF cooperation toward tangible benefits for the people. The Special Envoy highlighted Thailand’s role and agenda as APEC Host of this year and emphasized that IPEF and APEC cooperation can be complementary in our pursuit toward sustainable economic growth in the region, particularly as the U.S. will be the APEC Host in 2023.

On this occasion, the Special Envoy attended the launch event of IPEF Upskilling Initiative, which will provide more than 7 million education and training opportunities, using digital tools, for women and girls in 8 IPEF economies, namely Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand, within the period of 10 years up until 2032. The training opportunities will be provided by 14 leading U.S. companies. This initiative is the first concrete project under IPEF toward tangible outcomes for the peoples in the region. In this regard, Thailand looks forward to actively engaging in this initiative and can also take a proactive role as a potential contributor to human capital development projects under IPEF in the future.

The Meeting was the first in-person Ministerial Meeting since the launch of IPEF on 23 May 2022 in Tokyo. IPEF serves as a constructive, innovative, and flexible platform of cooperation for the mutual interest and tangible benefit of IPEF partner countries and their peoples.