Statement
By
H.E. General Tanasak Patimapragorn
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand
At the Asian-African Ministerial Meeting
20 April 2015, Jakarta, Indonesia
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Madame Chair,
Distinguished Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a distinct honour for me to join all of you in commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the Bandung Conference. Let me congratulate you and the Government of Indonesia for hosting this important meeting.
Madame Chair,
Thailand is proud to be one of the founding members of this Conference. We were represented at the inaugural session by our Foreign Minister, His Royal Highness Prince Wan Waithyakon (วรรณไวทยากร). Thailand has been an active member ever since.
In 2005, we joined fellow Asian and African Leaders in establishing the New Asian-African Strategic Partnership.
Today, we return to Indonesia to reiterate our commitment to this Partnership – and to draw on the Bandung spirit of strength and resilience to advance and deepen our cooperation.
Madame Chair,
We have solid foundations to build on.
In the past, we have stood for peace, justice and cooperation.
Today, we continue to promote peace around the world. Roughly 87 percent of the United Nations’ peacekeeping personnel come from Asian and African countries.
We have good trading relations. Already, over a quarter of Africa’s international trade is with Asia.
We also carry out a number of excellent technical cooperation programmes.
I fully agree with you that Asia and Africa must grow together. We can do much more together. Our combined potential is almost limitless and there are many opportunities before us, especially in the area of economic relations.
Thailand is committed to working together with our Asian and African friends and partners to seize these opportunities and to realise our common goals of stability, prosperity and sustainability.
Madame Chair,
Thailand will continue to pursue our development cooperation programmes. The total value of our programmes has doubled for Asia and increased 10-fold for Africa.
We are also ready to continue to share our experiences and know-how in such areas as sustainable development and the “Sufficiency Economy” philosophy of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej; food security; and people-to-people connectivity.
Moreover, Thailand is ready to work with our ASEAN friends and other partners to ensure that existing regional and sub-regional frameworks are connected and complement one another. These frameworks include the regional organisations in Asia and Africa.
Madame Chair,
Let us, therefore, take this opportunity here to engage in a serious and constructive dialogue that will lead to concrete initiatives to achieve our common goals and build even stronger links between Asia and Africa.
Thank you.
