PM Prayut to attend online session of the ASEAN council to discuss regional Covid-19 impact

Yesterday the Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai announced that the ministers have agreed to work on 3 points that were proposed by a group working under the ASEAN Coordinating Council on Public Health emergencies. The guidelines are as follow…

1. A Covid-19 ASEAN Response Fund which will be used to purchase medical equipment and support research on treatment and vaccines
2. Providing assistance to ASEAN nationals living in the region as well as in other countries
3. Soften socioeconomic effects including coming up with an economic recovery plan once the pandemic ends

A follow up session on April 14 will have PM Prayut Chan-o-cha as the head speaker for Thailand of the ASEAN (+ 3 other countries) to launch more measures to protect ASEAN’s 650 million population against the Covid-19 virus.

In the scheduled teleconference, authorities from China, South Korea and Japan (the +3 countries) will also be joining the 10 nation talks which are expected to culminate with the announcement of 2 declarations. According to the ASEAN coordinating committee, ASEAN, with a combined GDP of $2.8 trillion US$ (91.4 trillion baht), will propose funds aimed at increasing the capacity to contain the spread of the virus and agree to further work on plans to help ASEAN people to find ways to relieve the economic impact.

The Covid-19 agenda was proposed by China which wants ASEAN to hold a “special session” specifically touching on the pandemic situation. In an attempt to curb infections governments have restricted travel and imposed city lockdowns, which now affect nearly half of the world’s population.

The one-day meeting is aimed at stepping up efforts to stop the pandemic besides the ongoing intensive measures against the virus in each country.

SOURCE: The Nation | Bangkok Post