2. Multilateral Programme

 

                   2.1 Regional Cooperation

 

                              Thailand’s development cooperation programme and activities, have been also implemented to respond capacity building and human resources development needs under  regional economic cooperation framework, that have been initiated to foster either economic, social or political interests in the region, such as BIMSTEC and OIC.  Thailand as a member, has lately proposed regional training programmes in responding to Avian Influenza, to share our success in the prevention and control among members of these regional frameworks. 

 

                   2.2 Global Cooperation

 

                        Thailand is also trying to assist the others in reaching the common global agenda, the MDGs. In term of “poverty reduction”, in Thailand as His Majesty the King’s Philosophy of “Sufficiency Economy”, an alternative development for poverty reduction at the grass root level, has proved its own success,  Since 2003, our determination to expose this Philosophy and its practices in Thailand, to others has begun.  Study visit programmes such as “Buakaew Roundtable International : Sufficiency Economy (BRITSE)” and “Conference on Alternative Development : Sufficiency Economy” have been arranged and welcomed a large number of representatives at ministerial/senior level from Asia, the Middle-East, Africa and Latin America. So far at least 40 have benefited from these programmes.

 

                        To link up relationship and to explore new term of cooperation with our new partners in other region; study visit under the multilateral programme of “Buakaew Roundtable International” has been proposed to share our views and experiences on development and to light up primary idea on development cooperation between Thailand and all the invited countries. Besides, it is meant to establish people-to-people relations and contacts among the staff from the focal point agencies such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of our target countries, as the programme’s participants, and eventually this networking could contribute in further cooperation that may be created between Thailand and our new partners in the far regions or even among themselves. Since 2005 until now, this programme has welcomed representatives from Latin America and the Caribbean (member  countries of FEALAC and CARICOM), the Middle-East and Africa; and has provided an opportunity for them to exchange their ideas on development and examine new areas or forms of cooperation with both public and private sector in Thailand, in the fields of, for example, crop substitution (the Royal Projects in Chiang Mai), urban development, OTOP, women development, fisheries, halal food and health services. 

 

Notes :

 

(1) BIMSTEC or Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation

 

     (1.1) Areas of cooperation includes agriculture, fisheries, public health, poverty reduction, natural disaster/environment management, trade & investment, technology, transport linkages/communication,energy, tourism, anti-terrorism, culture  

 

and people relation

 

     (1.2) Members comprises of Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, and Thailand

 

(2) OIC or Organisation of Islamic Conference

 

     (2.1) Members comprises of 56 Muslim countries, Thailand is an observer