Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha speaks at the Special ASEAN Summit on COVID-19 on April 14. (Photo: VNA) Bangkok (VNA) – Thai Prime Minister PrayutChan-o-cha plans to push ahead with a proposal to set up the ASEAN Response Fund(ARF) as part of a six-point declaration to be endorsed by the ten ASEANleaders as they join hands to fight COVID-19, Bangkok Post reported.
The widely-spreading COVID-19 pandemic has forced thegrouping to hold the first ever summit teleconference, chaired by VietnamesePrime Minister and ASEAN Chair Nguyen Xuan Phuc, on April 14. It was the secondtime ASEAN has discussed the COVID-19 since the Special ASEAN-China ForeignMinisters’ Meeting on Coronavirus Disease held in Vientiane, Laos in February.
Prayut’s plan is to table a number of important items duringthe one-day meeting, which will culminate in the Declaration of the Special ASEANSummit on Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), the Thai newspaper said.
One of six measures in the declaration is the establishmentof the ARF to arm medical personnel with weapons in their ongoing battle againstthe coronavirus, as well as pave the way for a new "force" toeradicate the disease in the long term.
Thailand had earlier proposed setting up a fund to finance thepurchase of medicine and medical equipment, as well as research for a COVID-19vaccine at a recent meeting joined by foreign ministers. The idea was given thegreenlight, pending final approval from the 10-nation bloc on April 14.
Financing issues will be further discussed between ASEAN andits three partners - China, Japan and the Republic of Korea in the afternoon./.
