Tanee: We have no time to lose
Tanee Sangrat: APEC 2022 will focus on ‘Bangkok Goals on BCG Economy’ to tackle environmental and economic challenges. It is hoped that the summit will result in common declarations contributing to global economic recovery.
APEC 2022: 'Thailand needs to maintain a fine balance'
With APEC 2022 less than 24 hours away, Thailand’s new Ambassador to the US and former Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tanee Sangrat talks to The Nation about the Kingdom’s readiness as the host and the summit’s “Open. Connect. Balance” theme.
When asked how Thailand will handle the different opinions among member countries about ongoing world affairs like the Russia-Ukraine war, tensions between world powers, energy crisis and disruption of supply chains, Tanee said many of the conflicts were happening outside the APEC purview.
He said these issues were not directly related to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and as a host, Thailand will try to maintain a balance, even though tensions may prevent the finalisation of some pacts or may block consensus on some agreements.
When asked what Thailand will do to balance this, Tanee said: “When it comes to documents and negotiations and conversations about them within APEC, we may have to issue a statement from the chair instead of a joint statement for some of them.”
The newly appointed envoy also said he hopes the summit will help open the path to global recovery in the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting economic slowdown.
“The APEC meetings are very important, as this will also be a pivotal moment for the economies in Asia-Pacific and the world to address the environmental challenges the planet faces,” Tanee said. “Unlike in the past, this year we have addressed the problem quite squarely and come up with some solutions that will be worked upon as part of the ‘Bangkok Goals in BCG economy’.”
The BCG (bio-circular-green) economic model was devised by the Thai government to tackle climate change sustainably.
“I think what we discuss and our conversations within the APEC Summit, and the very fact that this year’s summit focuses on the ‘BCG economy’ means we are committed to a sustainable economic recovery,” he said.
Tanee added that the summit will also make the public aware of the importance of transitioning into a sustainable economy, and to achieve this, every sector will have to work together.
“We have no time to lose in terms of controlling greenhouse gases and carbon emissions. Thailand has to play a key part, and we cannot just rely on the government to set goals,” he said. “Companies, people in the economic sector, households, offices … we all have to work together for these common goals.”
