ACMECS is for regional development, says Thai PM

NAYPYITAW, June 23 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha says the purpose of the establishment of the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) is for cooperation and development for people in the region on a sustainable basis. The Thai prime minister made the remarks during his Tuesday morning's speech at the 6th ACMECS meeting, set to be held in Naypyitaw, Myanmar's capital, from June 22-23. The Thai premier, who is also Chief of the army-led National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), stressed that the two-day ACMECS summit is meant for the regional leaders' determination in continuing their cooperation, which will bring about further development for people in the region on an equal basis. The Thai leader proposed that ACMECS member states proceed with their common objectives even after the formation of the ASEAN Community (AC) by the end of this year. The Thai leader called on ACMECS member countries to move forward together in a stable way and use ACMECS as a mechanism to encourage all member countries to achieve development goals of the United Nations Post 2015 Development Agenda. According to the Thai prime minister, the Thai government is determined to encourage and give support under ACMECS and ASEAN cooperation to achieve stability and wealthy for the public. The prime minister pointed out that the success of ACMECS will become the foundation of AC and, therefore, it is the right moment to jointly lay out cooperation direction of ACMECS, which will also bring about benefits for AC as much as possible. ACMECS is a cooperation framework among member countries, including Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand, aimed to utilise member countries’ diverse strengths and promote balanced development among them. Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra initiated the establishment of the grouping's cooperation framework in April 2003. (TNA)