Summary of Weekly Press Briefing

Thursday, 18 August 2022 at 11:30 hours

Via MFA Facebook Live

 1. The 9th Meeting of the Thailand - India Joint Commission (JC) for Bilateral Cooperation (17 Aug 2022)

• DPM/FM and H.E. Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs of India, co-chaired the 9th Thailand- India JC.
• Gist as follows:
  • (1) On security, both sides agreed to foster cooperation in defense and cyber security;
  • (2) On economy, both sides welcomed the new record of 14.9 billion USD of bilateral trade. Both sides also agreed to promote business exchange and cooperation by expediting the 2^nd India-Thailand Joint Business Forum, as well as establish an online platform to promote the exchange of information on startups and unicorns;
  • (3) On socio-culture and tourism, both sides emphasised the benefits of promoting increased exchange between students, citizens, and tourists of the two countries;
  • (4) On regional and global cooperation, both sides attached importance to fostering cooperation at the regional and global levels, esp. through ASEAN and also aimed to enhance BIMSTEC connectivity under Thailand’s chairmanship in 2022-2023, which was set to introduce “PRO BIMSTEC - Prosperous, Resilient and Open” as the main vision of Thailand in driving the BIMSTEC community to be prosperous, resilient and open as well as prepared to deal with the challenges of post-covid-19 recovery.
• Both sides witnessed the signing ceremony of two MOUs between Thailand and India, namely, (1) MOU on Health and Medical Research Cooperation between the Dept. of Medical Services of MOPH and the Indian Council of Medical Research of Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India, and (2) MOU for Cooperation and Collaboration on Broadcasting between the Prasar Bharati, India, and the Thai Public Broadcasting Service, Thailand (Thai PBS).

 2. APEC Third Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM3) and Related Meetings (16-31 Aug 22)

• During 16-31 August 2022, Thailand is hosting the APEC SOM3 and Related Meetings in Chiang Mai to build upon the progress and achievements made thus far. The meetings aim to continue steering the Asia-Pacific region through ongoing global economic challenges towards sustainable and inclusive economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, under the theme of “Open. Connect. Balance.”.
• SOM3 consists of 67 meetings involving 28 APEC sub-fora and additional meetings specially organised to move forward APEC 2022’s priorities. In addition, 4 sectoral Ministerial Meetings will also be held during this period, namely, tourism, health, food security and forestry. The themes of these meetings align with the Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) Economy Model, the overarching thinking behind Thailand’s APEC host year. Over 1,800 APEC delegates are expected to participate in SOM3, the majority of which will travel to Chiang Mai while the rest will participate in Bangkok and via online.
• APEC delegates will achieve 3 key deliverables as Thailand’s APEC host year enters its final stretch ahead of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week in November 2022. Key highlights include:
  • (1) Carrying on the discussions from the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting (MRT) in May 2022, on how to carry forward the conversation on the Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) in the post-COVID-19, especially through the development of the FTAAP multi-year work plan;
  • (2) The Safe Passage Taskforce (SPTF) will focus on implementing the endorsed safe passage initiatives, as well as how APEC can further its commitment to facilitate business mobility in the region, and create a crisis-proof resilient travel infrastructure for a more responsive future; and
  • (3) The development of the Bangkok Goals on BCG Economy, where economies will continue revising the draft document and prepare to submit it for endorsement by APEC Leaders in Bangkok in November.
• A Roundtable on Partnership towards Sustainable Economic Growth through the BCG Economy Model as well as a Dedicated Session on the Bangkok Goals will be organised to advance this initiative.
• On 26 August 2022, MFA will organise 3 events to raise public awareness on Thailand’s APEC host year as follows:
  • (1) The 6^th APEC Media Focus Group on “Sustainable MSMEs, Women and Business,” 09.30 – 12.30 hrs. at the Faculty of Political Science and Public Administration, Chiang Mai University;
  • (2) The 7^th APEC Media Focus Group on “Open. Connect. Balance. Building the Future of APEC through BCG Economy Model and Innovation,” 15.40 – 17.00 hrs. at ICONSIAM; and
  • (3) The “APEC2022 on tour: Chiang Mai” Exhibition, 16.30 – 17.30 hrs. at the Promotion Area, 3^rd Floor, Central Festival Chiang Mai
• Live-streaming will be available on the Facebook pages of MFA and APEC2022 Thailand.

3. Dept. of Consular Affairs opens a Temporary Passport Office at Central Plaza Westgate (20 Aug 22 onwards)

• The Temporary Passport Office, Bang Yai, Central Plaza Westgate will open to issue ordinary passports on Saturday, 10.00 - 18.00 hrs. The Office welcomes both walk-ins as well as online reservations, which are limited to 500 applicants per day.
• Only ordinary passports will be issued, and express-mailed passports will not be available.
• The Office also provides an automatic kiosk for passport renewal. Applicants must be above 20 years of age and must bring their old passports with the ID cards.

4. 2022 TICA Scholarships (27 Aug 22)

• TICA will host “2022 TICA Scholarships” to launch a new website on Saturday, 27^th August 2022 from 13.30-15.00 hrs. (GMT+7). The event will be live streamed on www.tica-scholarships.com
• This website is created as a useful source of information on scholarships and training awards offered by TICA, and information on Thailand’s international development cooperation through human resource development cooperation by sharing its knowledge and experiences with other developing countries to support their sustainable development.
• At the event, the current TICA scholars will share their study experiences. The event will also feature Thai cultural performances and special prizes from TICA.
• To register in advance, please https://metag.pro/tica/. For more information, please e-mail [email protected] or [email protected].

Weekly Press Briefing: https://fb.watch/eZKhZP-708/

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Press Division
Department of Information