28 August 2013 – The Philippine Embassy in Prague, as part of its membership in the ASEAN Prague Committee (APC), participated in the celebration of the 46th Anniversary of the Establishment of ASEAN on August 08 at the residence of the Thai Ambassador.
Along with the Heads of Mission and personnel of the resident ASEAN Member Embassies of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, representatives from the diplomatic corps in Prague, as well as Czech government officials and some members of the Czech business sector attended the celebration.
As the current Chair of the newly established APC, the Royal Thai Embassy hosted the ASEAN Day celebration by holding a simple program and reception. The program primarily consisted of the ASEAN flag-raising ceremony and a statement from Thai Ambassador to the Czech Republic Vitavas Srivihok.
In his remarks, Ambassador Srivihok traced the origin of ASEAN by stating that “Forty-six years ago in Bangkok, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was founded with the signing of the Bangkok Declaration by the Founding Fathers of ASEAN, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.” The Thai Ambassador added that the “dream of our Founding Fathers of ASEAN is to create a peaceful and prosperous region in Southeast Asia. Today, ASEAN member states are enjoying the fruits of peace, stability, and development, brought by years of commitment and hard work by ASEAN and our partners.”
Since the Czech Republic is a member of the European Union (EU), Ambassador Srivihok concluded his remarks by thanking “our partners, such as the EU, for their valuable contributions and continuous support for ASEAN’s community building. The close cooperation between ASEAN and the EU is well reflected in our strong trade and investment relations.”
The Ambassador underscored that “today, despite the risks caused by the global economic climate, ASEAN and the EU still possess favorable conditions for economic development. Therefore, the two sides should further tighten their coordination to cope with the impacts of the global economic turmoil because no country could separately respond to the situation.” END