Former ASEAN chief meets Thai PM

BANGKOK, January 18 (TNA) - Former ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan paid a courtesy call on Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra at Bangkok's Government House on Friday to report his performance as the ASEAN chief over the past five years. Surin, who recently handed over the ASEAN top post to former Vietnamese foreign minister Le Luong Minh, told the prime minister of work and experiences he has learned over the past five years at the Jakarta-based Secretariat of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Surin, who is also a former Democrat Thai foreign minister, also exchanged his views with the Pheu Thai premier and recommended that all parties in Thailand join forces to successfully drive the nation toward the ASEAN Community (AC), set to be formed by 2015, focused on equipping Thai people with foreign language skills and raising Thai educational standards to meet internationally-recognized benchmarks. Premier Yingluck, in turn, praised the former Thai ASEAN chief for contributing to regional benefits and national reputation while taking the ASEAN top job, urging him to continue to work for the nation, especially in helping Thailand move forward toward the AC. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Interior organized a seminar in the capital for participants, including provincial governors and high-ranking government officials, to discuss Thailand's cooperation with neighbouring countries, as the ministry is developing mechanisms to help support neighbouring nations in all aspects to join the AC. Permanent Secretary for Interior Wibul Sa-nguanpong suggested that Thai provincial authorities jointly develop economic development strategies with authorities of neighbouring countries to secure their successfully entry into the AC; while parallelly improving the competitiveness of their provinces and taking proactive and integrated approaches to realize the comprehensive development of their provinces. Minister Attached to the Prime Minister's Office Niwatthamrong Bunsongphaisan, who co-chaired the seminar, said that Thai provincial governors should particularly develop transport networks and human resources and convince local people to cooperate with the development, along with enhancing their provincial strengths, namely potential to be quality tourist destinations or industrial bases, learning the languages and cultures of neighbouring countries and joining forces with the educational sector to conduct research projects to support policymakers. Niwatthamrong also urged the Thai provincial authorities to adjust their administrative and working structures to facilitate the tasks and to attach more importance to goals and solutions than their budgetary and personnel requests, assuring that the government will fully support their efforts. (TNA)