During 28 - 29 April 2024 H.E. Mr. Sihasak Phuangketkeow, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, attended the World Economic Forum Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development (WEF Special Meeting) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Meeting was held with an aim to foster cross-regional collaboration for an inclusive and sustainable growth, with a main focus on energy for development, amidst today’s obstacles and challenges. The WEF Special Meeting was attended by over 1,000 representatives from governments, international organizations, the private sector, and the academia from 90 countries, including over 200 leader and ministerial level participations.

On this occasion, the Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs attended and exchanged views and ideas in various sessions including (1) Joint Regional Strategy Dialogue: ASEAN-GCC to promote the cooperation between ASEAN and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) including the push for the ASEAN-GCC FTA, investment in infrastructure, and crucial role of the private sector in driving economic growth in both regions; (2) Workshop entitled “Powering Up Together: Strengthening Cross-Regional Collaboration for the Energy Transition to strengthen an integrated energy security by stressing the importance of just and equitable access to energy, develop the necessary infrastructure, facilitate access to concessional finance as well as financing from the private sector; and (3) Informal Gathering of World Economic Leaders (IGWEL) High-Level Luncheon: Charting a Global Security and Growth Agenda to discuss the geopolitical tensions and conflicts, especially the situation in the Middle East.

In addition, the Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs also had bilateral discussions with (1) Hon. M.U.M. Ali Sabry, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to follow-up on Prime Minister Srettha’s recent visit to Sri Lanka last February; (2) Ms. Deemah Al Yahya, Secretary-General of the Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO) to discuss possible digital cooperation in the future; and (3) CEOs from Thai companies: Indorama, SCG and BRANDi and Companies.

This Special Meeting is the first thematic meeting held by WEF in complementary to the WEF Annual Meeting in Davos each January, and the WEF Meeting of the New Champions in China (or the “Summer Davos”) each June. Future WEF thematic meetings will be held in different regions of the world on a rotational basis, based on the theme of the meetings, where leaders from all sectors are invited to participate in a frank discussion on the world’s most pressing issues in a peer-to-peer setting. This year, the WEF Special Meeting focuses on driving energy cooperation for development, which is an issue that Saudi Arabia strongly advocates for.