Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha emphasised that no country could fight against the COVID-19 threat alone whileaddressing the online Special ASEAN Summit on COVID-19 response on April 14.

During the summit chaired by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Thailand and its ASEAN partners agreed to set up the COVID-19 ASEANResponse Fund and draw upon related lessons and experience.

Thailand was of the view that all parties must work togetherto control the spread of the virus and flatten the curve, as well as craft acollective approach to mitigate socio-economic impacts in a comprehensivemanner.

The Thai PM also proposed five significant approaches, saying ASEANneeds to mobilise the energy and efforts of all sectors to jointly addressthis challenge in a holistic manner.

He proposed ASEAN and the ASEAN Plus ThreeCountries jointly establish a COVID-19 ASEAN Response Fund by reprioritising 10percent of existing funds from the ASEAN Development Fund and cooperation fundswith China, Japan, the Republic of Korea (RoK) and ASEAN Plus Three, or anotheragreed upon rate. The Fund shall be used to procure test kits, personalprotective equipment and medical tools as well as support research anddevelopment in medicines and vaccines to help ASEAN become more self-reliant.

ASEAN should build understanding and empathy in thecooperation to facilitate transport of goods and logistics, customs clearance,and border trade. This will ensure that consumers will have access to asufficient supply of medical tools and equipment, medicines and essential goodsin a timely manner during this crisis, Prayut said.

According to the Thai PM, the role of technology should be promotedin providing innovative solutions to tackle challenges. ASEAN should alsosupport the wider use of digital economy, innovative technology and e-commercein the region, especially in helping MSMEs to take advantage of onlineplatform. Digital Payment Connectivity and the use of Interoperable QR Codeshould be expedited to further facilitate regional trade and commerce.

ASEAN should draw upon the lessons and experience from the fight against COVID-19 to help build self-immunity to economic impacts fromfuture public health emergencies or environmental challenges, he said.

The SufficiencyEconomy Philosophy is an alternative approach to promote sustainablesocio-economic development and enhance internal strengths with an emphasis onself-reliance, he said.

The role of the ASEAN Secretary-General, in his capacity asASEAN’s coordinator for humanitarian assistance, should be strengthened to cover cooperation in the case of emergency situations such as epidemics, the Thai PMsaid./.