Thai DPM delivers speech at 48th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting

BANGKOK, August 5 (TNA) - Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister General Tanasak Patimapragorn acknowledges the importance of research and development (R&D) cooperation in the region, as well as marketing campaigns for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and preparation to cope with regional challenges, including narcotics, disasters and communicable diseases. General Tanasak mentioned the issues while delivering his speech at the opening session of the 48th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting and its related-forums at the Putra World Trace Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital, on Wednesday morning. General Tanasak also emphasized Thailand’s roles in promoting relations between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), in which Thailand is a member state, concerning issues in the South China Sea. The Thai deputy prime minister and foreign minister pointed out that the 48th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting also creates cooperation with countries outside the region on trips of migrants back to their homelands and to third-party countries. Besides, the Thai deputy prime ministe and foreign minister expressed gratitude towards other ASEAN member states for their participation in the Special Meeting on Irregular Migration in the Indian Ocean, held in Bangkok in late May 2015. While inaugurating the 48th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, meanwhile, emphasized the ASEAN motto of “One Vision, One Identity, One Community”. (TNA)