H.E. Mr. Sihasak Phuangketkaew, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, attended the “OECD Southeast Asia Ministerial Forum 2023”, which is an annual dialogue forum for policy makers and high-level representatives from public and private sectors from the OECD members and Southeast Asian countries. At the Forum, the Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs led the Ministerial Discussion on “Global investment trends: new potential for sustainable and quality investment in Southeast Asia”, reiterating Thailand’s policy on promotion of sustainable investment, especially in smart industries and R&D. He also proposed way forward on how to enhance cooperation to foster sustainable investment in the region, such as promoting green innovation and green finance, and development of intra-regional supply chains.
 
On the sideline of the Forum, the Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs also met with H.E. Mr. Mathias Cormann, Secretary-General of the OECD to discuss the role of Thailand in strengthening cooperation between the OECD and Southeast Asia, ways to build on and step up Thailand-OECD cooperation as well as Thailand’s accession to OECD membership in the future.
 
 
The OECD, an international organization with 38 Members and partners across regions around the globe, plays an important role in the development of good practices and standards for economic and development policies, as well as good governance, under the vision “Better Policies for Better Lives”. Thailand is currently implementing the OECD-Thailand Country Programme Phase 2, focusing on the areas of doing business, investment, sustainability, transparency, good governance, competition policy, as well as human resource development through education, science, technology and innovation policy. The country is also preparing itself for a possible membership to the OECD in the future, aiming to improve Thailand’s long-term competitiveness, enhance investment climate for quality investment, and to support Thai businesses of all sizes including MSMEs, through promoting competitiveness and sustainability.