On 6 November 2023, Mrs. Ureerat Chareontoh, the Director-General of Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA), attended the Seventh Southeast Asia Multi-Stakeholder Forum on the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. This event was organized by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the ASEAN Centre for Sustainable Development Studies and Dialogue (ACSDSD) at the United Nations Conference Centre (UNCC), Bangkok. The Director-General of TICA was invited to deliver the opening remarks at Session 2 entitled “SDG 17: Partnerships for Progress: SDG 17 and the Energy Transition towards Net-Zero Emissions.”

The Director-General of TICA emphasized that global challenges have affected the worldwide achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including in Southeast Asia. This calls for increased collaboration among all sectors to attain the SDGs. To promote net-zero emissions, the Director-General highlighted Thailand’s targets for Carbon Neutrality by 2050 and Net-Zero Emissions by 2065 and that Thailand has implemented the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP) to foster sustainable socio-economic development, alongside the promotion of the Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) Economy Model.

The Director-General of TICA proposed the 3Rs enabler that will help the transition towards achieving Net-Zero Emissions. Addition to financial resources, which include firstly ‘Research and Development (R&D)’ for affordable and accessible innovation and green technology.  Secondly, ‘Reinforced Partnerships’, in which TICA has collaborated with the United Nations, JICA, KOICA, GIZ, USAID, and AFD; and implemented various projects such as the Thai Rice for Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (Thai Rice NAMA) with GIZ, the Transboundary Air Quality Management project in Laos with USAID. Additionally, TICA also offers the training fellowships through the Annual International Training Courses (AITC). Lastly, ‘Responsibility Mindset’, while TICA is emphasizing the importance of embedding responsibility mindset to its staff via activities such as the "Send Me (Orphan Waste) Home" Project with N15 Technology Company.  The meeting acknowledged that technology and innovation are vital tools for collaboration, including the enhancement of partnerships between the public and private sectors to support an effective transition to Net-Zero Emissions, accelerating the achievement of SDGs by 2030.

The Seventh Southeast Asia Multi-Stakeholder Forum on the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals serves as a platform for dialogue among member countries of ESCAP in the Southeast Asian region. The outcomes of the discussions will feed into the Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development, scheduled to take place in early 2024.