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The Royal Thai Embassy presents its compliments to the ASEAN Secretariat and has the honour to inform the latter that H.E. Mrs. Sansanee Sahussarungsi, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand to the Republic of Poland, has completed her six-month term as the Chair of ASEAN Committee in Warsaw (ACW). The Royal Thai Embassy organized an ACW Meeting to hand over the ACW Chairmanship from H.E. Mrs. Sansanee Sahussarungsi, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand to the Republic of Poland, to H.E. Mr. Vu Dang Dung, Ambassador of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to the Republic of Poland, on 3 July 2018 at the Residence of the Ambassador of Thailand. In this connection, the Royal Thai Embassy would like to provide the ASEAN Secretariat with the ACW Chairmanship's Report during Thailand's term from 16 November 2017 to 3 July 2018, as per attached hereto. The Royal Thai Embassy avails itself of this opportunity to renew to the A SEAN Secretariat the assurances of its highest consideration.
ASEAN Secretariat, JAKARTA. CHAIRMANSHIP REPORT
ASEAN COMMITTEE IN THIRD COUNTRIES (ACTCs)
I. Name of ACTCs: The ASEAN Committee in Warsaw (ACW) The ASEAN Committee in Warsaw comprises the Heads of Diplomatic Mission of the five ASEAN
member countries accredited to and resident in the Republic of Poland.
II. Member of the ACW
1) Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia
2) Embassy of Malaysia
3) Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines
4) Royal Thai Embassy (Chair)
5) Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Ill. Period of the Report: 16 November 2017- 3 July 2018
Thailand assumed the Chairmanship of ACW from the Philippines during the Handover
Ceremony on 16 November 2018
IV. Activities
1) 3 ACW Meetings hosted by H.E. Mrs. Sansanee Sahussarungsi, Ambassador of the Kingdom of
Thailand on 22 February 2018, 8 May 2018 and 3 July 2018;
2) 1 ACW Working Group Meeting on 29 March 2018 hosted by Ms. Tachaphorn Suntrajarn Deputy
Chief of Mission, Royal Thai Embassy;
3) 2 Welcoming luncheons in honour of non-resident ASEAN Ambassadors accredited to Poland on
13 March 2018 and in honour of H.E. Mrs. Chitra Devi Ramiah, Ambassador of Malaysia to Poland ,
on the occasion of her assumption of duty in Poland on 8 May 2018;
4) Joint participation and contribution under "ASEAN Village" theme in the annual fund-raising activity,
SHOM Charity Bazaar 2017, which was organized by the Spouses of the Heads of Mission (SHOM)
on 3 December 2017 at Marriott Hotel;
5) Joint courtesy call on H.E. Jacek Czaputowicz, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, by 10
ASEAN Heads of Diplomatic Mission accredited to Poland on 14 March 2018 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
of Poland; 6) Joint representation as panelists and cooperation to organize a panel discussion on ASEAN under the
topic "The ASEAN-European Union Economic Co-operation Forum" during the 1Oth European Economic
Forum (EEC) on 15 May 2018 in Katowice.
V. Significant Outcomes
1) The joint courtesy call on Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland by ASEAN Ambassadors to Poland on 14
March 2018 was considered a historic event as it was the first time that all 10 Heads of Diplomatic
Mission of ASEAN member countries to Poland met with the Polish Foreign Minister. The meeting
was a success with amicable atmosphere, pragmatic and forward-looking gestures of Poland to
strengthen the cooperation between ASEAN and EU, and between ASEAN and Poland particularly
on economic ties and activities, as well as deeper cooperation on science and education.
2) The ACW Ambassadors and representatives participated as panelists, together with representatives from
the Polish governmental agencies, in the penal discussion on "The ASEAN-European Union Economic Co
operation Forum" during the 1O tn EEC in Katowice. The forum was the first-time ASEAN session in the EEC
agendas and attracted more than 90 audience. It reftected enthusiasm of the Polish policy-making sides
to engage with ASEAN and increasing attention of the Polish private sector to learn more about ASEAN
economic potentials.
VI. Challenges
The continuity and choices of activities to be organized with interested partners from the Polish
side are the main factors which contribute to the success of the event in promoting and maintaining the
visibility of ASEAN among the Polish policy-making bodies and the Polish community in general.
VII. Recommendations
Regular updates on the development of ASEAN Community in 3 pillars from the ASEAN
Secretariat would be very useful for the ACTCs.
~a~~=f · Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand to the Republic of Poland
Outgoing Chair, ASEAN Committee in Warsaw Enclosure:
(1) Minutes of the ACW Meeting on 22 February 2018;
(2) Minutes of the ACW Meeting on 8 May 2018;
(3) Minutes of the ACW Handover Meeting on 3 July 2018 MINUTES OF MEETING
THE ASEAN COMMITTEE IN WARSAW (ACW)
DATE: TUESDAY 3 JULY 2018
TIME: 14.30-16.15 HRS.
VENUE: RESIDENCE OF THE AMBASSADOR OF THAILAND
1. The Royal Thai Embassy hosted the Meeting of the ASEAN Committee in Warsaw (ACW) at the
Residence of the Ambassador of Thailand. The meeting was chaired by H.E. Mrs. Sansanee
Sahussarungsi, Ambassador ofThailand and attended by H.E. Ms. Patricia Ann Villar Paez, Ambassador
of the Philippines, H.E. Mr. Vu Dang Dung, Ambassador of Vietnam, H.E. Mrs. Chitra Devi Ramiah,
Ambassador of Malaysia, and Mr. Hubertus Djatmiko Witjaksono, Minister Counselor, Embassy of
Indonesia, accompanied by officers of the ACW's Working Group. (Enclosure)
A. Chair's Opening Remarks
2. H.E. Mrs. Sansanee Sahussarungsi, Ambassador of Thailand and the current Chair of ACW, welcomed all
the participants to the Residence of the Ambassador of Thailand and thanked for their kind
participation to the ACW Meeting today which was mainly served as the official handover ceremony of
the ACW's Chairmanship from Thailand to Vietnam .
3. H.E. Ambassador of Thailand summarized on the ACW's activities and works done during the past 6
months of her chairmanship's term, starting from 16 November 2017. There were 3 ACW Meetings on
22 February 2018, 8 May 2018 and 3 July 2018, and 1 separate ACW Working Group meeting on 29
March 2018. Also, 2 welcoming lunches were organized, firstly, in honour of non-resident ASEAN
Ambassadors to Poland from Berlin (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar) and
Singapore, on 13 March 2018 at Amber Room Restaurant and, secondly, in honour of H.E. Mrs. Chitra
Devi Ramiah, Ambassador of Malaysia to Poland, on the occasion of her assumption of duty in Poland
at the ACW Meeting on 8 May 2018 at Delicja Polska Restaurant.
4. H.E. Ambassador of Thailand highlighted the 3 important ACW activities thatACW jointly organized with
a collective effort, contributing to the completion of the events with satisfactory results . First was the SHOM
Charity Bazaar 2017 on 3 December 2017 where ASEAN Embassies organized their national booths under
the concept of "ASEAN Village" in order to support the fund-raising program of Spouse of Head of Mission
(SHOM) group which aimed to help less fortunate people in Poland. Second was the ASEAN joint courtesy 2
call on H.E. Mr. Jacek Czaputowicz, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland on 14 March 2018 on the
occasion of his assumption of duty, attended by the ACW Ambassadors together with the other 5 non
resident ASEAN Ambassadors to Poland. The meeting was considered a historic event as it was the
first time that all1 0 Heads of Mission of ASEAN countries to Poland met with the Polish Foreign Minister.
What was discussed during the meeting reflected the pragmatic and forward-looking position of
Poland toward the cooperation with ASEAN . Third was ASEAN Seminar Session during European
Economic Congress (EEC) on 15 May 2018 where ACW Ambassadors participated as panelists, together
with Mr. Donny Hutabarat, Director of Bank Indonesia Representative Office in London, in a discussion
on "The ASEAN-European Union Economic Co-operation Forum" during the 1Oth edition of EEC which was
organized during 14-16 May 2018 in Katowice. The forum was considered the first-time of ASEAN debut in
the EEC through the inclusion of ASEAN session in the EEC agendas and it attracted more than 90 audience.
Together with us as panelists from the Polish side were Mr. Pawel Milewski, Director of the Asia-Pacific
Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Mr. Marcin Roszkowski , Head of the Polish Investment and
Trade (PAIH) Office in Jakarta. This reflected enthusiasm of the Polish policy-making bodies toward ASEAN
and it helped attract more audience to the session. The 3-day event of EEC this year welcomed more than
11,000 visitors. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki also attended to deliver a keynote address, as well as
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minsters from many Ministries taking part as special panelists in different
forums. Thus, special thanks went to Ambassador of Vietnam for introducing this event to ACW and
suggesting us to join in the first place.
5. H.E. Ambassador of Thailand concluded with thanks and appreciation that due to kind supports and
cooperation from the ACW Ambassadors and ACW Working Group, all the activities held during her
tenure could be proceeded smoothly and successfully. What ACW jointly did showed a great team
work and proved that the spirit of ASEAN was very well-alive. H.E. Ambassador of Thailand assured
that even the chairmanship was handed over to the next Chair, the Royal Thai Embassy and herself
would continue giving full support and cooperation to ACW.
B. Discussions
6. H. E. Ambassador of Malaysia and H. E. Ambassador of the Philippines congratulated H. E. Ambassador
of Thailand on the successful mission and jobs done during her chairmanship, especially the
organizing of the historic ASEAN joint call on the Foreign Minister of Poland. 3
7. H. E. Ambassador of the Philippines was of the view that ACW should maintain the cooperation and
coordination with non-resident ASEAN Ambassadors to Poland in Berlin and Singapore and suggested
that ACW circulated the Minutes of the ACW Meetings to them in order to keep them updated and
informed of upcoming activities.
8. The Meeting agreed to the circulation of Minutes of the ACW Meetings to non-resident ASEAN
Ambassadors, as proposed by H.E. Ambassador of the Philippines.
C. HANDOVER OF THE ACW'S CHAIRMANSHIP
9. H.E. Ambassador of Thailand presented a wooden gavel to H.E. Ambassador of Vietnam as a symbol
to officially transfer the Chairmanship to the next Chair.
10. H.E. Ambassador of Vietnam expressed thanks and commended H.E. Ambassador of Thailand for her
contribution over the last 6 months. He appreciated that ACW did many activities together to promote
ASEAN in Poland . He further indicated that it was difficult to represent the whole ASEAN group while
there were only 5 ASEAN Embassies in Poland. Still, many Polish people were not well aware of ASEAN.
Therefore, ACW needed to continue joint actions and efforts and that he needed suggestion and
recommendation from ACW colleague for the future activities.
11 . H. E. Ambassador of Vietnam mentioned that at least there were two important occasions that ACW
could undertake related activities. First was the ASEAN Day on 8 August 2018 when he proposed that
ACW could organize ASEAN Flag hoisting ceremony, the same practice done in the Capitals and at
ASEAN Secretariat, as well as in some other countries with ASEAN Committee (ACTCs). If agreed, this
could be done at the Embassy of Vietnam on 8 August 2018 in the morning. Second was the
1 Independence Day of Poland on 11 November 2018. As this year marked the 100 h Anniversary of
Regaining Independence by the Republic of Poland, the Polish Government planned for big celebration.
ACW might consider doing some activities with the Polish community and the Diplomatic Corps in response
to the Polish celebration to promote the cooperation between ASEAN and Poland whilst showing the unity
of ASEAN.
12. H.E. Ambassador of Malaysia proposed if the ACW could add the exchange of views on the domestic
development of the host country into Agendas of the regular ACW Meeting. She also indicated some
examples of ASEAN activities which could be jointly done such as ASEAN Fashion Show, ASEAN Week
and ASEAN Family Day to commemorate the ASEAN Day. In addition, she opined that ACW might
consider joining in seminar sessions which were locally organized much more as we did at the EEC 4
event, for instance, 'Get Asia' Seminar which would be organized in Warsaw at the end of September
2018. Besides, she suggested that ACW set up a chat group on WhatsApp for convenience in
communication.
13. H.E. Ambassador of the Philippines was of the view that ACW should focus on more substantial
activities. She added that she was also approached by the organizer of 'Get Asia' Seminar to be a
speaker in one of the sessions. She would then discuss with them and recommend that they invited all
other ACW Ambassadors to join as speakers. Furthermore, she proposed that ACW should arrange
some activities with local journalists to broader promote the awareness of ASEAN among the Polish
community.
14. H.E. Ambassador of Thailand was of the same view that ACW should take a chance to get involved in
substantial events as organized by the Polish authorities/agencies much more. The Asia and Pacific
Day hosted by Sejm was one of the substantial activities that ACW joined every year.
15. The Meeting was agreeable to the organizing of ASEAN Flag hoisting ceremony and this would be
further discussed by the ACW Working Group, led by the Embassy of Vietnam. Also, the possibility to
join in other relevant substantial activities should be further explored.
16. H.E. Ambassador of Vietnam concluded with thanks that the first ACW Meeting under his Chairmanship
would be scheduled in mid of September 2018 due to his official commitment in August.
17. The meeting was adjourned at 16.15 hrs. 5
MEETING OF THE ASEAN COMMITTEE IN WARSAW (ACW)
Tuesday 3 July 2018, 14.30-16.15 hrs .,
Residence of the Ambassador of Thailand ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Participants:
EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
1. Mr. Hubertus Djatmiko Witjaksono, Minister Counselor
EMBASSY OF MALAYSIA
1. H.E. Mrs. Chitra Devi Ramiah , Ambassador of Malaysia
2. Mrs. Nur Azura Binti Abd Karim, First Secretary
EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
1. H.E. Ms. Patricia Ann Villar Paez, Ambassador
2. Mrs. Imelda Y. De Joya, Attache
EMBASSY OF THE KINGDOM OF THAILAND
1. H.E. Mrs. Sansanee Sahussarungsi, Ambassador I Chair of ACW
2. Mrs. Korakoj Rimchala, First Secretary
EMBASSY OF THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM
1. H.E. Mr. Vu Dang Dung, Ambassador
2. Mr. Trinh Quan, Second Secretary MINUTES OF MEETING THE ASEAN COMMITTEE IN WARSAW (ACW)
DATE: Tuesday 8 May 2018 TIME: 12.30-14.45 HRS. VENUE: DELICJA POLSKA RESTAURANT
1. The Royal Thai Embassy hosted the Meeting of the ASEAN Committee in Warsaw (ACW) at Delicja
Polska Restaurant in Warsaw. The meeting was chaired by H.E. Mrs. Sansanee Sahussarungsi,
Ambassador of Thailand and attended by H.E. Mr. Peter Frans Gontha, Ambassador of Indonesia, H.E.
Ms. Patricia Ann Villar Paez, Ambassador of the Philippines, H.E. Mrs. Chitra Devi Ramiah,
Ambassador of Malaysia, and Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hai, Chief of Vietnam Trade Office, accompanied by
officers of the ACW's Working Group. (Enclosure)
A.Chair's Opening Remarks
2. H.E. Mrs. Sansanee Sahussarungsi, Ambassador of Thailand and the current Chair of the ACW extended
a warm welcome to Ambassador Chitra Devi Ramiah, Ambassador of Malaysia to Poland, and
presented a bouquet of flower to H.E. Ramiah on behalf of the ACW.
3. H.E. Ambassador of Thailand (Chair) informed the meeting that on 14 March 2017 all 10 ASEAN
Ambassadors to Poland, both resident and non- resident to Poland, paid a joint courtesy call on H.E.
Mr. Jacek Czaputowicz, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland. This meeting was
considered a historic event as it was the first time that all 10 Head of Mission of ASEAN countries to
Poland met with the Polish Foreign Minister. It is a good step toward a greater visibility of ASEAN in
Poland. H.E. Ambassador of Thailand expressed sincere thanks to the ACW for joint efforts which
contributed to the success of the meeting.
4. The meeting was held successfully with amicable atmosphere. The Polish side has expressed
pragmatic and forward-looking gestures to strengthen the cooperation between ASEAN and EU, and
between ASEAN and Poland particularly on economic ties and activities, which reaffirmed that the
relations were developing in the right direction.
5. As for the updates on ASEAN, H.E. Ambassador of Thailand (Chair) informed the meeting that
Singapore just hosted the 32nd ASEAN Summit in Singapore on 28 April 2018. The leaders emphasized
building a resilient and innovative ASEAN while affirming the importance of maintaining ASEAN 2
centrality and unity. They adopted the ASEAN Leaders' Vision for a Resilient an Innovative ASEAN,
following the theme of ASEAN this year under the chairmanship of Singapore.
6. In the context of ASEAN-EU, H. E. Ambassador of Thailand (Chair) welcomed the success of the EU
ASEAN Strategic Thinkers Forum held in late February 2018 in Brussels. The outcome of this forum
was to propose a list of recommendations for the future direction of ASEAN-EU relations to the 22"d
ASEAN-EU Ministerial Meeting (AEMM) later this year. This included interesting recommendations
such as creating common rules on digital infrastructure, considering visa facilitation agreement
between the two regions, organizing summer school exchanges and organizing joint arts, sports and
cultural events.
7. The meeting noted that Singapore had recently hosted the 6th Annual 2018 ASEAN -EU Business
Summit on 2 March 2018. The Summit discussed issues related to expansion of existing trade
partnerships between ASEAN and the European Union organizations and companies, and
developments with the ASEAN Economic Community. It also highlighted the importance of the ASEAN
EU relationship, and reflected the spirit of collaboration between Europe and ASEAN, both business
and government. They welcomed ASEAN-EU 'Plan of Action', adopted in Manila last year, which
helped pave the way for two blocs to develop their relationship further and expected to see great
progress on FTA, which is key to expanding trade and investment in the region.
B. Discussions
8. H.E. Ambassador of Thailand (Chair) briefed the meeting on the preparation for the organizing of
"ASEAN Session" at the European Economic Congress (EEC) to be held on 15 May 2018 in Katowice.
According to the EEC organizing committee, the ASEAN Session would be organized in a formal of
panel discussion in sofa setting comprising 2 sessions; 1) The first session (13.30- 15.00 hrs.) would
be dedicated to policy perspectives to be presented by all 5 ASEAN Ambassadors to Poland, and 2)
The second session would focus on business perspective to be presented by the representatives from
the Polish companies. The organizer would also prepare necessary devices for PowerPoint
presentation.
9. H.E. Ambassador ofThailand (Chair) thanked H.E. Ambassador of the Philippines for their kind support
to bring the member countries' flags and the ASEAN@50 backdrop for the purpose of venue
decoration. 3
10. The meeting took note that, for the first session of the panel discussion, after the introduction of each
speaker by the moderator, the panel discussion would start with a short video presentation on ASEAN
connectivity, to be followed by questions about ASEAN, including economic and social environment
of ASEAN countries, lessons learnt from the financial crisis of 1997, prospects and challenges for the
growth, as well as business opportunities in each country for European private sectors. H.E.
Ambassador of Thailand as the Chair of ACW would be invited to take floor first to discuss about
ASEAN and its salient development and dynamism. The moderator would also be pleased to ask
specific questions as speakers wished. Therefore, if needed, the ACW could forward the questions to
the organizing committee beforehand through the Royal Thai Embassy.
11 . H.E. Ambassador of Indonesia informed the meeting that he regrettably would not able to participate
in the ASEAN Session during the ECC as he was scheduled to attend an important seminar in Rome.
However, Director Chief Representative of Bank Indonesia, Representative Office in London (Mr.
Donny Hutabarat), would attend the panel discussion. Mr. Hutabarat had experiences and in-depth
knowledge about Indonesian economy, business opportunities as well as the financial crisis of 1997.
So Mr. Hutabarat would be able to share useful information at the event.
12. H. E. Ambassador of Thailand (Chair) proposed that as the representative from the Indonesian side is
a business expert, it would be informative if he could be the first one to be asked by the moderator to
elaborate about the lessons learnt from the financial crisis of 1997 during the discussion part. H.E.
Ambassador of Indonesia agreed with the proposal.
13. Regarding the pending proposal for a business day trip to visit a polish company in potential sectors
of Poland, H. E. Ambassador of Thailand (Chair) suggested that it should be further discussed by the
ACW Working Group in order to identify the appropriate sector and company for this activity.
14. The meeting was adjourned at 14.45 hrs. 4
MEETING OF THE ASEAN COMMITTEE IN WARSAW (ACW)
Tuesday 8 May 2018, 12.30- 14,45 hrs.,
Delicja Polska Restaurant ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Participants: EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
1. H.E. Mr. Peter Frans Gontha , Ambassador
2. Mrs . Lira Amalia Sucihati Sudradjat, Second Secretary
EMBASSY OF MALAYSIA
1. H. E. Mrs. Chitra Devi Ramiah, Ambassador of Malaysia
2. Mrs. Nur Azura Binti Abd Karim, First Secretary
EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
1. H.E. Ms. Patricia Ann Villar Paez, Ambassador
2. Mrs. Imelda Y. De Joya, Attache
EMBASSY OF THE KINGDOM OF THAILAND
1. H.E. Mrs . Sansanee Sahussarungsi, Ambassador I Chair of ACW
2. Ms . Tachaphorn Suntrajarn, Minister Counsellor
3. Mrs. Korakoj Rimchala, First Secretary
EMBASSY OF THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM
1. Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hai, Chief of Vietnam Trade Office
2. Mr. Trinh Quan, Second Secretary MINUTES OF MEETING THE ASEAN COMMITTEE IN WARSAW (ACW)
DATE: 22 FEBRUARY 2018 TIME: 12.00-14.00 HRS.
VENUE: DELICJA POLSKA RESTAURANT
1. The Royal Tha i Embassy hosted the Meeting of the ASEAN Committee in Warsaw (ACW) at Delicja
Polska Restaurant in Warsaw. The meeting was chaired by H.E. Mrs. Sansanee Sahussarungsi,
Ambassador of Thailand and attended by H.E. Mr. Peter Frans Gontha, Ambassador of Indonesia, H.E.
Mrs. Patricia Ann Villar Paez, Ambassador of the Philippines, H. E. Mr. Vu Dang Dung, Ambassador of
Vietnam and Mrs. Nur Azura Binti Abd Karim , Charge d'affaires of Malaysia, accompanied by officers
of the ACW's Working Group (representatives for the ACW). (Enclosure)
A. CHAIR'S OPENING REMARKS
2. H.E. Mrs. Sansanee Sahussarungsi, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand and the current Chair of
the ACW welcomed all ASEAN Heads of Mission and officials to the first ACW meeting after Thailand
was handed over ACW Chairmanship from the Philippines on 16 November 2017. She also
congratulated Ambassador of the Philippines on her achievement as the Chair of ACW during the
important time that marked the 50 th Anniversary of the Establishment of ASEAN . Then, she mentioned
the latest ACW's activity in SHOM Charity Bazaar 2017 on 3 December 2017 where we organized our
national booths under the concept of "ASEAN Village". ACW successfully contributed the total amount of
23,183.43 PLN to SHOM to support their fund-raising program to help less fortunate people in Poland. For
updates on ASEAN in general, she complimented the Philippines for successfully hosting ASEAN
Summit in 2017. Also, she commended Singapore as the Chair of ASEAN for 2018 for proposing the
timely theme "Resilient and Innovative ASEAN" . She also informed the meeting that Thailand as a country
coordinator for ASEAN-EU Dialogue would co-organize "EU-ASEAN Young Leaders Forum and Strategic
Thinkers Forum" with the EU partner during 26-28 February 2018 in Brussels, following the decision of
ASEAN and EU Foreign Ministers at the 21 st Meeting in Bangkok in October 2016 and in the context of the
40 th Anniversary of EU-ASEAN Dialogue Relations. 2
B. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA
3. The meeting adopted the Agenda of the meeting.
C. DISCUSSION Proposed ACW's joint courtesy call on H.E. Mr. Jacek Czaputowicz. Minister of Foreign Affairs
4. H. E. Ambassador of Thailand (Chair) informed the meeting that pursuant to her proposal for ACW to pay
the joint call on the new Foreign Minister of Poland, the signed letter from the Chair on behalf of ACW
requesting for a joint courtesy call on H.E. Mr. Jacek Czaputowicz, Minister of Foreign Affair of Poland, by
ASEAN Ambassadors was sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 18 January 2018. According to the
subsequent telephone conversation she had with Mr. Krzysztof Dobrowolski, Deputy Director of the Asia
Pacific Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on 21 February 2018, the joint courtesy call on the
Minister might occur in March. Mr. Dobrowolski also asked for ACW's opinions whether non-resident
Ambassador of Singapore to Poland whose residence was in Singapore could be invited to join in the
proposed joint call with ACW Ambassadors. The meeting then discussed and agreed that apart from
Ambassador of Singapore, ACW would invite all other non-resident ASEAN Ambassadors, namely
Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, whose residence were in Berlin, to join in this
courtesy call, representing all 10 ASEAN countries and that the invitation letter sent to Berlin would be
issued by the Chair of ACW.
5. H.E. Ambassador of the Philippines and Charge d'affaires of Malaysia shared the experience of the last
courtesy call on the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Mr. Witold Waszczykowski, in August 2016
which was held between only ACW and Foreign Minister of Poland. The meeting then engaged in more
discussions and exchanges of views on the possible formality of this upcoming joint call which might
be of the same format. Last time, the meeting started with the Minister's speech. Then , each
Ambassador had a few minutes to give remarks but the main focus were on ASEAN and multilateral
issues while bilateral issues were slightly mentioned.
6. H. E. Ambassador of Thailand (Chair) added that Thailand would prepare the basket of flower on behalf of
ACW to present to H.E. Foreign Minister at the joint call to congratulate him on his new position.
7. Therefore, the meeting agreed that (1) we would wait for the date and time set by the Ministry, (2) the
scenario of the meeting will be further discussed with Deputy Director Dobrowolski, and (3) The topics
should focus on the ASEAN issues and other common topics of interest, rather than the bilateral one. 3
Seminar on "ASEAN Potentials for Polish Business"
8. H.E. Ambassador of Thailand (Chair) proposed the meeting to consider the project's proposal to promote
ASEAN awareness among Polish people to continue the strong momentum that was generated by the
Seminar on ASEAN@50 last year. This year's project might aim to focus on a different group of
audience such as business circle. ACW might cooperate with the Polish counterparts such as the
Polish Chamber of Commerce to organize a half-day seminar on ASEAN potentials for the Polish
Business. For example, the first half of the seminar contributed to the presentation by 5 ASEAN
Ambassadors as the panelists to share information on AEC , economic outlook and business opportunity
in each ASEAN country. Then, for the second half, we invited the representatives from 1-2 Polish
companies doing business in/with some certain ASEAN countries to share their experience and success story.
9. H.E. Ambassador of Indonesia suggested that ACW should choose the partner carefully, the Polish
Chamber of Commerce could be among our choices but they mostly dealt with SMEs. We might
approach many organizations at the same time for selection, for example, our national business councils
or the Polish business association in particular sectors or we might co-organize the event with any Polish
governmental authorities in order to attract the target audience. Otherwise the seminar would not receive
much attention or would have less impact. We should be able to present to the Polish business sectors
as to how they could achieve and what areas they could compete in the ASEAN market, such as
shipyard, electricity and infrastructure.
10. H.E. Ambassador of the Philippines was of the same view that to identify co-partner and venue were the
most important issues to consider, contributing to the success of the event.
11 . H. E. Ambassador of Vietnam agreed with H. E. Ambassador of Indonesia and the Philippines, adding that
how our partner would support and contribute to co-organize the event was also the issue to further
discuss after we identify the partner. As an option, he informed the meeting that he was approached by
the Organizing Committee of European Economic Congress (EEC), to have a seminar session on Vietnam .
EEC, which would be held in Katowice during 14-16 May 2018, focused on business sector and the main
audience would be businessmen. He was of the view that ACW could take advantage from the existing event.
Therefore, if this is agreeable to all, he would propose to the Organizing Committee to consider adding
one more session on ASEAN or expanding the given session to broader ASEAN. All 5 ASEAN
Ambassadors could be panelists, presenting ASEAN as a group. If the Organizing Committee agreed to
this proposal, H.E. Ambassador of Vietnam would ask the Organizing Committee to contact H.E. 4
Ambassador of Thailand, the Chair of ACW, to engage in further discussions with the Chair on the format
and substantive issues.
12. The meeting agreed with Vietnam's proposal, considering that EEC was the big event with the presence of
high-level governmental officials and business figures . The meeting concluded that upon receipt the
feedback from Vietnam, Thailand would be the main coordinator of this project and the ACW Working
Group headed by Ms. Tachaphorn Suntrajarn , Minister Counsellor of Thailand, would be tasked with
details, coordination and the implementation of the project.
ACW's Business Day Trip to a Polish Compan_y
13. H.E. Ambassador of Thailand (Chair) proposed to the meeting that it might be a good idea for ACW to
learn more about potential industries in Poland, such as agri-food and pharmaceutical industries. ACW
might arrange a day trip to visit a Polish company in one of those sectors and have a meeting with the
company's executive. For instance, the visit to ADAMED which was one of the Polish leading
pharmaceutical companies. The company has its own research and development platforms which
focused on innovative drugs for treating cancer and central nervous system diseases. This could be
beneficial to us in terms of both academic cooperation and business opportunity.
14. The meeting agreed with Thailand's proposal and the ACW Working Group was assigned to identify a
potential sector and a company to visit in due course.
15. The meeting was adjourned at 14.00 hrs . 5
MEETING OF THE ASEAN COMMITTEE IN WARSAW (ACW)
Thursday 22 February 2018, 12.00-14.00 hrs.,
Delicja Polska Restaurant ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Participants:
EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
1. H. E. Mr. Peter Frans Gontha , Ambassador
2. Mrs. Lira Amalia Sucihati Sudradjat, Second Secretary
EMBASSY OF MALAYSIA
1. Mrs. Nur Azura Binti Abd Karim, Charge d'affaries
EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
1. H. E. Ms. Patricia Ann Villar Paez, Ambassador
2. Mr. Ramon Ebalo, Political Officer
3. Mrs. Imelda Y. De Joya, Attache
EMBASSY OF THE KINGDOM OF THAILAND
1. H. E. Mrs. Sansanee Sahussarungsi, Ambassador I Chair of ACW
2. Ms. Tachaphorn Suntrajarn, Minister Counsellor
3. Mrs. Korakoj Rimchala, First Secretary
EMBASSY OF THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM
1. H.E. Mr. Vu Dang Dung, Ambassador
2. Mr. Trinh Quan, Second Secretary