Thailand pushes cooperation on jabs, "green development" at China’s Belt and Road summit
Foreign Minister and Deputy PM Don Pramudwinai arrived at Wednesday’s online “Asia and Pacific High-Level Conference on Belt and Road” armed with two key documents outlining Thailand’s cooperation with hosts China.
On Tuesday, the Cabinet approved drafts on the "Barrier Partnership and Pathways on Cooperation on Covid-19 Vaccines" and the "Initiative on Belt and Road Partnerships and Road on Green Development”.
The documents informed discussions on the conference’s theme: "Promoting cooperation in the fight against the epidemic for sustainable recovery".
The Foreign Ministry said the first document expressed intentions to promote cooperation on Covid-19 vaccines by encouraging governments and vaccine manufacturers to help developing countries through donations or exports at affordable prices, making vaccines a public commodity.
The second expressed the intention to promote cooperation in green development of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) for sustainable economic growth by adhering to principles set out by the United Nations and Paris climate agreement. Thailand is central to China's BRI ambitions, with Beijing funding construction of a high-speed railway among other BRI projects in the Kingdom.