Thailand pushes forward establishment of ASEAN Response Fund to curb COVID-19

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 Prayut Chan-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 ASEAN leaders as they join hands to fight COVID-19, Bangkok Post reported.

The widely-spreading COVID-19 pandemic has forced the grouping to hold the first ever summit teleconference, chaired by Vietnamese Prime Minister and ASEAN Chair Nguyen Xuan Phuc, on April 14. It was the second time ASEAN has discussed the COVID-19 since the Special ASEAN-China Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on Coronavirus Disease held in Vientiane, Laos in February.

Prayut’s plan is to table a number of important items during the one-day meeting, which will culminate in the Declaration of the Special ASEAN Summit on Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), the Thai newspaper said.

One of six measures in the declaration is the establishment of the ARF to arm medical personnel with weapons in their ongoing battle against the coronavirus, as well as pave the way for a new "force" to eradicate the disease in the long term.

Thailand had earlier proposed setting up a fund to finance the purchase of medicine and medical equipment, as well as research for a COVID-19 vaccine at a recent meeting joined by foreign ministers. The idea was given the greenlight, pending final approval from the 10-nation bloc on April 14.

Financing issues will be further discussed between ASEAN and its three partners - China, Japan and the Republic of Korea in the afternoon./.