Our correspondent Dusita Saokaew asked Thailand's Former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva about his views on the political gathering in China.
DUSITA SAOKAEW, CGTN Reporter "China's political elite are gathering in Beijing for the 'two sessions', which serves as an important window into China's development, reviewing the past and drawing a blueprint for the future. Although, mostly focused on domestic affairs, fiscal policies will be closely watched by observers from all around the world. How do you think China can create a more inclusive global economy?"
ABHISIT VEJJAJIVA, Former Thai Prime Minister "Well, I think China herself is in a very important engine of growth. So even when you talk about what might be strictly seen as domestic or national policy at the national level, it has international and regional repercussions.
The two sessions will be very important. It's something that I think the whole world will be watching, partly because of course it follows the Congress, very important Congress last year and also it comes at a time when I think there are so many challenges at the national level at the regional level. And of course, at the global level. But it also comes at a time when there are now increased geopolitical tension. So it's a huge challenge for the whole world and that's why everybody's interested to see what two sessions will provide in terms of clarity and direction as far as China is concerned."
DUSITA SAOKAEW, CGTN Reporter "China's reopening has been largely welcomed here in Thailand, and signals the return to normality for tourism and trade. How do you think China's reopening can further benefit China and Thailand cooperation and also benefit the ASEAN region as a whole?"
ABHISIT VEJJAJIVA, Former Thai Prime Minister "You know the world is move on, and there are innovations. There are new technologies, there are new growth sectors where I don't think China and Thailand have been able to explore those opportunities fully because of COVID and because of other restrictions. This is a good time to reappraise and see and identify new areas of cooperation. What silver lining that came out during the pandemic was that we see more cooperation in the area of health in the area of technology, and I think they should be explored more."
DUSITA SAOKAEW, CGTN Reporter "This year marks the 10th anniversary of the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative. Over the past decade, a number of concrete projects have been implemented. How is the Belt and Road Initiative important to Thailand? What should Thailand and China do to strengthen Belt and Road cooperation in the future?"
ABHISIT VEJJAJIVA, Former Thai Prime Minister "Well, you know, Thailand feels that geographically we are at the center of what we call mainland ASEAN and so any connection that we any extra connection that we can make can only contribute to us being a hub and I think you know, with Thailand having developed the Eastern Economic Corridor, hoping to create it as a growth center. The more that's connected to southern China to other ASEAN countries, the likelihood of success of the development, so you know I still feel that the connectivity agenda, the Belt and Road agenda continue to be very important.
The one area where I felt would help is that if there is truly a multilateral forum of some kind because the way most of the projects have been driven over the last decade have been mostly on a bilateral level, but in fact you know you can see how one project in one country can also benefit a third country and that has not been fully explored. So perhaps if we have space where there can be better coordination and rationalization of priorities of projects. I think that would also help."
DUSITA SAOKAEW, CGTN Reporter "2023 also marks the 10th anniversary of the vision of "building a community with a shared future for mankind", which has become an important policy guiding Chinese diplomacy in this era. This vision was upheld during the pandemic when China provided support in the global battle against COVID-19. What are your thoughts on this vision? And what are areas can this vision be applied?"
ABHISIT VEJJAJIVA, Former Thai Prime Minister "I think my expectation has always been that given the success of Chinese economic development and the sheer size of the country, China has so much to contribute to global affairs and China has identified many areas, particularly prosperity, particularly the environment, as priorities where there should be consensus wherever we are. So I think these initiatives certainly move the world in the right direction. So if we aim to create global development, I think that's probably the first thing we need to look at, how we can return to an era where we have trust in each other and a willing to open up to each other to create more opportunities."