No. 2010 ll1f? P-ermanent Mission of Thailand to ASEAN Sentral 'Senayan I, 3nl Fl., Jl. Asia Afrika No. 8, Jakarta I 0270 Tel: (62-21) 572 5767 Fax: (62-21) 572 4206

The Permanent l\1ission of Thailand to ASEAN presents its . . compliments to the A"SEAN Secretariat and ·has 1he honour to refer to the Rules of P-rocedure for the ASEAN Committees in Third Countries and International Or-ganisation. ·In this -connect-ion, the Permanent Mission has the honour to forward herewith the letter ftom H.E. Dr. -P-omchai Danvivatha...'la, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand to the Republic of South Africa addressed to H.E. Mr. Le Luong Minh, Secretary-General of ASEAN, transmitting the summary report of the.ASEAN Pretoria Committee {APC) in 20.16. The Permanent Mission of Thailan<.l to ASEAN avails itself

of this opportunity to-renew to the ASEAN"Secretar~at -the assurance of its highest consideration.

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co;.n:ern : ROYAL THAI EMBASSY No. 480011 PRETORIA ':J 'i P.O. Box 12080 Hatfield 0028 Tel. 342-5470 Fax. 342-4805

January B. E. 2560 (20 17)

Excellency,

In my capacity as Chairman of the ASEAN Pretoria Committee (APC) during July - December 2016, I have the honour to enclose herewith a summary report of the APC activities in 2016. This report contains a summary of number of APC activities conducted during the first and the second halves of2016 under the Chairmanship ofH.E. Mr. Chua Thai-Keong, High Commissioner ofSingapore, and that of myself, repectively.

The APC Chairmanship is now transferred to H.E. Mr. Vu Van Dzung, Ambassador of Vietnam who will chair APC during January- June 2017.

Accept, , the assurances of my highest consideration.

<-- · -·-.

(Dr. Pomchai Danvivathana) Ambassador of Thailand Chairman of APC (July - December 20 16)

His Excellency Mr. Le Luong Minh, Secretary-General of ASEAN, JAKARTA. 1

SUMMARY REPORT OF ASEAN PRETORIA COMMITTEE (APC) in 2016

A. SINGAPORE CHAIRMANSHIP (JANUARY TO JUNE 2016):

During the first half (January- June) of 2016, High Commissioner of Singapore, H.E. Mr. Chua Thai-Keong, assumed the Chairmanship of the ASEAN Pretoria Committee (APC). Initiatives I activities of APC during this period are as follows:

1. Engagement of South African Politicians/Officials in Cape Town in conjunction with the annual State of the Nation Address

Singapore organised a dinner with the Acting Director-General of the Department of Agriculture, Mr Mortimer Mannya, and Deputy Director-General, Ms Elaine Alexander, at Nobu Restaurant in Cape Town on 12 February 2016.

On 13 February 2016, the ASEAN, the ASEAN Heads of Mission made an impromptu joint call on H.E. Ms Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, at the DIRCO Minister's Brunch at the Cavalli Wine Estate. During the call, the Heads of Mission took the opportunity to stress the potential of a ASEAN­ South Africa/SADC partnership and convinced the Minister to agree to a formal joint call in due course.

2. Welcome Lunch for Thai Ambassador

Singapore organised a lunch to welcome incoming Thai Ambassador, H.E. Mr. Pornchai Danvivathana, and wife, Mrs Dounghatai Danvivathana, on 27 May 2016 with Chief Operations Officer of DIRCO, Amb Ebrahim Saley, as the special guest.

3. Engagement of South African Politicians/Officials in Gauteng

On 7 June 2016, Singapore organised a dinner with D_eputy Speaker of Parliament, The Hon. Solomon Lechesa Tsenoli. The dinner provided a platform for the ASEAN Heads of Mission to engage the ruling ANC at a political level and provided valuable insights on the municipal elections to be scheduled for 3 August 2016.

During the aforementioned lunch on 27 May 2016, Amb Saley gave the Heads of Mission some insights into the personnel movements, internal decision making and foreign policy thinking of DIRCO.

4. ASEAN Sports & Family Day 2016

The ASEAN Sports & Family Day was held on 14 May 2016 at the Pretoria East Primary School. The event involved all ASEAN Heads of Mission, diplomats, ASEAN nationals working for ASEAN Missions and their family members. In total, there were approximately 150 participants. Each ASEAN Mission contributed one savoury dish and one dessert for the event. To foster greater ASEAN spirit and unity, the teams for the various games comprised of participants for different countries which promoted greater interaction and engagement. 2

5. Improved Connectivity

To improve connectivity and to promote swift dissemination of information among ASEAN Heads of Mission, a Whatsapp group was created. It can be used to share information issues pertaining to safety, security and political developments.

B. THAILAND CHAIRMANSHIP (JULY TO DECEMBER 2016):

During the second half (July to December) of 2016, H.E. Dr. Pornchai Danvivathana, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand, assumed Chairmanship of the ASEAN Pretoria Committee (APC). Below are activities of the APC during Thai Ambassador's Chairmanship.

1. APC Meeting on 5 July, 8 September, 2 December 2016 and 17 January 2017

Under the Chairmanship of H.E. Dr. Pornchai Danvivathana, Thai Ambassador, the Royal Thai Embassy organized four APC meetings, held on 5 July, 8 September, 2 December 2016 and 17 January 2017. Gist of these meetings mainly focused on the successful preparation and arrangement of the 49th A SEAN Day Reception, held on 4 August 2016 at the Royal Thai Embassy and the way forward to promote ASEAN in a host country as well as a long term relationship between ASEAN and the Republic of South Africa. The meetings also agreed to further discuss in details APC's activities to be held during the 501h Anniversary of ASEAN in 2017.

The meeting on 17 January 2017 was the last APC meeting under the Thai Chairmanship, which was followed by a luncheon talk hosted by APC Heads of Mission to welcome H.E. Mr. Vu Van Dzung, Ambassador of Vietnam with participation of the Executive Mayor of Tshwane as guest speaker. On this occasion, the APC Chairmanship and APC Fund were handed over to the Ambassador of Vietnam. The Vietnam Chairmanship was considered to take effect retroactively on 1 January 2017.

2. Farewell and welcome events for some APC Heads of Mission

Upon completion of terms of duty in the Republic of South Africa of some APC Heads of Mission, APC organized farewell dinner and lunch to bid farewell to H.E. Mr. Tha Aung Nyum, Ambassador of the Republic of the Union of and spouse and to H.E Mr. Le Huy Hoang, Ambassador of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and spouse, on 2 August 2016 and 19 October 2016 respectively.

On 22 November 2016, APC organized a dinner to welcome H.E Mr. , Ambassador of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and spouse at the Thai Ambassador's Residence. 3

3. The 49th ASEAN Day Reception

1 On 4 August 2016, the 49 h ASEAN Day Reception was organized at the Royal Thai Embassy. 160 guests including ASEAN Heads of Mission, ASEAN nationals, diplomats from ASEAN missions and other missions in Pretoria together with high ranking officials from Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) and other agencies of South Africa as well as local media attended this event.

4. APC Luncheon talk with the Chairman of ESKOM

On 19 October 2016, APC organized an APC Luncheon Talk at Sir Herbert Restaurant with participation of Dr. Ben Ngubane, a Chairperson of a South African electricity public utility (ESKOM) as guest speaker to discuss Electrical Energy Business opportunities in South Africa.