Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai has underlined that ASEAN needs to turn the challenges of COVID-19 into opportunities to chart the course for the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Foreign Minister has recently attended the 4th High-Level Brainstorming Dialogue on Enhancing Complementarities between the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (HLBD) via video conference.
He co-chaired the Dialogue with Ms. Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Under-Secretary-General of the UN/Executive Secretary of ESCAP.
In his opening remarks, the Foreign Minister focused on (1) enhancing people’s well-being, (2) promoting human capital development, and (3) finding a balance between economic and social development and environmental impact.
Moreover, he said, a clear game plan is needed to accelerate the implementation of the SDGs, which can be started by compiling best practices in the region and putting in place robust monitoring and evaluation systems.
The Meeting reviewed progress made and discussed ways to advance the Complementarities Initiative based on the six areas of cooperation under the Complementarities Roadmap (2020 – 2025), namely, poverty eradication, infrastructure and connectivity, sustainable management of natural resources, sustainable consumption and production, resilience, and capacity-building.
It also highlighted that sustainable development and the Complementarities Initiative can help mitigate the socio-economic impact of Covid-19 and strengthen regional resilience to future crises and disruptions.
Emphasis was placed on enhancing high quality education and STI, promoting health security, advancing green growth, restoring and building sustainable supply chains, promoting inclusiveness, international, multi-stakeholder, and cross-sectoral participation for development.
