Joint Press Statement of the Eleventh Coordinating Meeting of the Thailand-Singapore Civil Service Exchange Programme, 24 January 2013, Singapore

Joint Press Statement of the Eleventh Coordinating Meeting of the Thailand-Singapore Civil Service Exchange Programme
24 January 2013, Singapore

1 The Eleventh Coordinating Meeting of the Thailand-Singapore Civil Service Exchange Programme (CSEP) was held in Singapore on 24 January 2013. His Excellency K Shanmugam, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Law of the Republic of Singapore, and His Excellency Surapong Tovichakchaikul, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand, officiated at the opening ceremony.

2 The Meeting was co-chaired by His Excellency Chee Wee Kiong, Second Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Singapore, and His Excellency Sihasak Phuangketkeow, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand. Senior officials from both countries' civil services participated in the Meeting.

3 Since its inception in 1998, the CSEP has been a key bilateral mechanism in promoting friendship and enhancing cooperation between the civil service agencies of Singapore and Thailand, guided by the overall vision of the Singapore-Thailand Enhanced Partnership (STEP) framework.

4 The Meeting reviewed and noted with satisfaction the good progress made across the thirteen areas of cooperation since the Tenth CSEP Coordinating Meeting in Bangkok, Thailand from 19 to 20 January 2011. Highlights include (i) a special project on long term care of the elderly involving three Ministries from each side; (ii) the successful second run of the “Singapore-Thailand Leadership Development Programme”; (iii) Thai CulturalFest 2012/2013 and collaboration between Singaporean and Thai museums on various exhibitions; and (iv) exchanges on water management and flood alleviation.

5 Both sides reaffirmed the warm and robust ties between the two civil services, and renewed their commitment to deepen cooperation under CSEP and ensure that the process remains relevant to challenges arising from an increasingly complex strategic environment.

6 The overarching theme for the Meeting was “Good Governance in an Increasingly Complex World”. In line with the theme, both sides identified issues of common concern and proposed new areas of collaboration. These include: (i) exchanges and workshops on good governance and managing complexity; (ii) cooperation on sustainable development and environmental governance; and (iii) a course on e-Government for public sector excellence.

Cluster Cooperation

7 On civil service cooperation, Singapore and Thailand jointly organised the Second Singapore-Thailand Leadership Development Programme in August 2011 for 30 high potential officers from both sides. The programme successfully achieved its objectives of giving participants insights into the latest developments and public sector innovations and enabling an exchange of ideas on the latest challenges faced by the two civil services. Both countries agree to continue their collaboration on the third run of the Programme in 2013.

8 For the coming year, the Public Service Division (PSD) and the Civil Service College (CSC) of Singapore and the Office of the Civil Service Commission (OCSC) and the Civil Service Training Institute (CSTI) of Thailand agreed to continue their active exchanges. This will include a two-day senior officials’ visit programme to be jointly organised by PSD and OCSC as a platform for both sides to share perspectives and experiences in good governance. Singapore will host the first run of the programme, which will allow participants to network and gain a deeper understanding of their counterparts’ country. It will include a high-level dialogue session on the principles of good governance, supplemented by briefings and visits to selected agencies.

9 On education cooperation, both MOEs reviewed ongoing collaboration and joint projects, and expressed satisfaction that these initiatives were progressing well. Such initiatives have contributed to fostering deeper linkages between the Ministries, our education institutions, and our people. Both MOEs also committed to continuing to work closely with each other on existing projects and new projects related to (i) School Principals and Teacher Attachments; and (ii) the increase in the twinning of schools. It was also agreed that the Second Retreat Meeting between Thailand’s Office of the Higher Education Commission (OHEC) and Singapore’s Higher Education Division (HED) will be reconvened.

10 On environmental cooperation, the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources of Singapore and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Thailand agreed to continue to enhance collaboration and share experiences and knowledge in the following areas: (i) environmental law and enforcement; (ii) water recycling and reuse; and (iii) application of the Singapore Index on Cities Biodiversity.

11 On health cooperation, the Ministry of Health (MOH) of Singapore and the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand (MOPH) agreed to continue their bilateral cooperation, which includes study visits, exchange programmes, and collaboration in infectious disease surveillance and management, non-communicable diseases, elderly and long-term care, and tobacco control.

12 In November 2012, a Singapore MOH delegation led by a Director visited the Thai MOPH and healthcare facilities. They received briefings on healthcare financing in Thailand and their healthcare service delivery. From September to November 2012, a Director-level Thai MOPH staff was attached to Singapore MOH on a fellowship programme on quality improvement.

13 Singapore and Thailand also completed a special project on “Long Term Care” which involved the Ministry of Health, the former Ministry of Community Youth and Sports (now restructured into the Ministry of Social and Family Development and the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth) and the Ministry of Manpower of Singapore; and the Ministry of Public Health, Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security of Thailand. The project included the exchange of experience and knowledge on long term care of the elderly through study visits and meetings.

14 For the coming year, both sides agreed to explore new areas of cooperation in (i) Health Promotion, such as workplace health and safety, lifestyle changes, and nutrition; (ii) mental health; and (iii) health financing, including universal health coverage.

15 On information and communication technology (ICT) cooperation, both parties were satisfied with the exchanges in areas of common interest and participation in training programmes. In September 2012, senior Thai telecom policy makers participated in an executive training programme organised by the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) of Singapore. In October 2012, IDA hosted a visit by the National Science and Technology Development Academy of Thailand (NSTDA), during which IDA shared Singapore’s experience with the National Authentication Framework and Data Centre Park.

16 For future collaboration, IDA and the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology of Thailand (MICT) will exchange information and explore opportunities for cooperation in the area of e-Government, secure electronic transactions, eCitizen engagement, cloud computing, and network and information security. In this connection, the Singapore Cooperation Programme Training Award (SCPTA) will offer a training course on “e-Government Journey towards public sector excellence” to MICT officials in Singapore. The training course is supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore and managed by the Civil Service College of Singapore.

17 In the area of legal and judicial cooperation, the Ministry of Law of Singapore and the Ministry of Justice and the Office of the Judiciary of Thailand collaborated on the service of documents for civil and commercial matters. Since the Tenth CSEP in 2011, the Thai authorities assisted with three requests from Singapore while the Singapore authorities helped with nine requests from Thailand. Singapore’s Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau and the Thai National Anti-Corruption Commission also worked together on various requests for information.

18 Both sides cooperated substantially in the area of study visits and training courses. This included seven visits made by Thai delegations to the Supreme Court of Singapore, while the Subordinate Courts of Singapore hosted a delegation team from the Supreme Administrative Court of Thailand to study the best practices on case management and court administration. Separately, the Singapore Health Sciences Authority hosted their Thai counterpart, the Central Institute of Forensic Science, for a short visit in July 2011. In November 2012, the Singapore Ministry of Law hosted a Thai delegation comprising senators from various ministries under a programme by the Thai Office of the Council of State, to discuss issues concerning the rule of law and access to justice. In May 2012, a delegation from the Legal Execution Department of Thailand attended the training on information technology for case administration and had a chance to visit the courtrooms at the Singapore courts.

19 Both sides also continued with various collaborative training programmes. In June 2012, Thailand sent two representatives to attend the “3rd Regional Training for Drug Law Enforcement Officials” co-hosted by Singapore’s Central Narcotics Bureau and the Colombo Plan Drug Advisory Programme. During the 12th run of the Integrated Narcotics Enforcement Programme, held in June 2012 in Singapore, participants from Thailand contributed to a valuable exchange of ideas. In addition, the Office of the Narcotics Control Board of Thailand conducted a study visit on drug rehabilitation in Singapore for 13 officials in September 2011.

20 With a view to developing further relations and networks between officials, both sides agreed to continue collaboration on the service of documents in civil and commercial matters, and to host additional study visits relating to legal and judicial areas so as to learn best practices from each other in areas of mutual interest.

21 On manpower cooperation, the Ministry of Manpower of Singapore (MOM) and the Ministry of Labour of Thailand (MOL) expressed satisfaction with the outcome of their collaboration on improving labour productivity and labour participation, which resulted in a visit by Thailand’s MOL to Singapore in July 2011. Both sides agreed to explore other avenues for cooperation such as exchanges on work-life balance and flexi-work arrangements.

22 On media, arts and culture cooperation, the Department of Information of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand hosted the Seventh Information Officers’ Exchange Programme (IOEP) from 29 August to 2 September 2011 and the Eighth Journalists’ Exchange Programme (JEP) from 12 to 16 September 2011.

23 The Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) of Singapore hosted the Eighth IOEP from 2 to 6 July 2012 under the theme “Public Outreach”, and the Ninth JEP from 6 to 10 August 2012 under the theme “New Media”.

24 Both sides agreed to further enhance their cooperation in the exchange programmes for journalists and information officers by continuing with a theme and following up on the results and suggestions of each IOEP and JEP held.

25 The Department of Information of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand will host the Ninth IOEP in July 2013 and the 10th JEP in August 2013, tentatively under the theme “ASEAN awareness”, which could discuss people’s participation and community building through ASEAN awareness raising efforts. This would coincide with the CSEP theme of “Good Governance in an Increasingly Complex World,” which includes elements of transparency and accountability, as well as inclusiveness of the people. This is beneficial as both countries are approaching the realisation of an ASEAN Community in 2015.

26 As part of Thai CulturalFest 2012/2013, organised by the National Heritage Board (NHB) in collaboration with various Thai institutions, the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) showcased Thai Transience. Co-organised by SAM and the Office of Contemporary Art and Culture (OCAC) of Thailand, the exhibition featured more than 50 works comprising historical objects, as well as contemporary art from both emerging and senior Thai artists.

27 In addition, the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM), with the cooperation of the Department of Fine Arts of the Ministry of Culture of Thailand, is currently presenting the special exhibition Enlightened Ways: The Many Streams of Buddhist Art in Thailand (November 2012 to April 2013) which explores the forms of Buddhist art in Thailand through more than 100 works, the majority of which have been drawn from 11 Thai national museums.

28 The Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth of Singapore (MCCY) and Thailand’s Ministry of Culture agreed to explore inter-institutional exchanges and study visits in the area of arts and culture. In addition, the Ministry of Culture proposed short and long-term secondment programmes for Thai officers in the arts and culture sector to gain work experience in similar organisations in Singapore.

29 On MFA-to-MFA cooperation, the two MFAs reaffirmed the importance of maintaining the momentum of exchanges between middle-level to senior-level officials under the Thailand-Singapore Exchange Programme (TSEP). These exchanges allow both MFAs to exchange views on global and regional developments and promote mutual understanding. Thailand hosted Singapore MFA Deputy Secretary (Southeast Asia and International Organisations) Vanu Gopala Menon for the Sixth TSEP in July 2012. Singapore will host the Seventh TSEP in the third quarter of 2013. Thai MFA Permanent Secretary Sihasak Phuangketkeow visited Singapore from 28 to 29 June 2012 at the invitation of Singapore MFA Permanent Secretary Bilahari Kausikan. Permanent Secretary Bilahari will visit Thailand in the first quarter of 2013, at the invitation of Permanent Secretary Sihasak.
30 The two MFAs also agreed to continue with the exchange of visits between newly-recruited diplomats in order to develop networks and friendships between junior MFA officials. The Singapore MFA and its Diplomatic Academy welcomed the visit of newly recruited Thai MFA officers in August 2011. Newly recruited Singapore MFA Foreign Service Officers will visit Thailand in the coming year. In addition, the MFA Diplomatic Academy will collaborate with the Thai MFA and the Saranrom Institute of Foreign Affairs (SIFA) on inviting Singaporean and Thai personalities to deliver talks when they visit their counterparts’ countries.

31 On science and technology cooperation, both countries are continuing to strengthen their technical cooperation in metrology. In addition to bilateral comparisons of measurement standards, cooperation was extended to include metrology training and technical exchange. In 2012, a project on comparison of vibration standards was initiated and another on UV photometry training was completed. At CSEP 11, both sides agreed to pursue the following areas: radiometric measurement for solar cells, mass measurement, and radio frequency power measurement. These new areas of cooperation will further contribute towards gaining international recognition of our measurement capabilities under the global Mutual Recognition Arrangement, and in metrology capacity building for both the National Metrology Centre, A*STAR, and the National Institute of Metrology (Thailand).

32 In a different technology area, the joint projects between the Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R) of A*STAR, Singapore and the National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre (NECTEC), Thailand, in developing a Thai-to-English rules based speech recognition engine and in organising the International Convention on Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology, have been completed. Both sides have agreed to co-organise the Annual Conference of the International Speech Communication Association in Phuket from 14 to 18 September 2014

33 On social welfare, youth and sports cooperation, both sides agreed to explore opportunities to share experiences and knowledge on capacity building and skills enhancement. The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) of Singapore, the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) of Singapore, and the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security (MSDHS) of Thailand agreed to study visits in areas such as family development, protection of victims of domestic violence, and assistance to the disadvantaged. The Institute of Physical Education from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Thailand will send a delegation of 30 staff and students to the Singapore Sports School in May 2013 for a study trip and cultural exchange.

34 On technical cooperation, the Technical Cooperation Directorate (TCD) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore and the Thailand International Development Cooperation Agency (TICA) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand expressed satisfaction with the state of bilateral cooperation under the Singapore-Thailand Third Country Training Programme (TCTP). Both sides agreed to provide more relevant technical assistance to regional countries under the TCTP to support ASEAN integration and ASEAN Community-building efforts. In addition, TCD also offered to organise two workshops on "Good Governance in an Increasingly Complex World" (in line with the theme of CSEP 11) in Singapore in 2013 for senior Thai officials to learn strategies for managing change and dealing with complex problems in the public sector.

35 On transport cooperation, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the Marine Department of Thailand reaffirmed their co-operation under CSEP.

36 In August 2012, MPA hosted a visit for Thai civil servants from the Office of the Civil Service Commission (OCSC). In September 2012, both countries also participated in the “Regional Training Course on Marine Accident and Incident Investigation” jointly organised by the Marine Department and the IMO under the IMO’s Integrated Technical Cooperation Programme (ITCP). Singapore contributed a technical expert to this course.

37 Officials from the Marine Department of Thailand also participated in a three-day regional workshop on “Developing a Regional Strategy and Action Plan to Implement the Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention” in November 2012. This workshop was conducted jointly by Singapore and the IMO, under the Singapore-IMO Third Country Training Programme (TCTP) framework. In the same month, officials from the Marine Department of Thailand also participated in the “Maritime Safety Management” course conducted jointly by Singapore and Japan, under the Japan-Singapore Partnership Programme for the 21st Century (JSPP21) framework.

38 For CSEP 11, the Marine Department of Thailand will follow up with MPA on details of the proposal to invite two Vessel Traffic Service operators from Singapore to the Vessel Traffic Management Information System (VTMIS) centre in Laem Chabang, Thailand. MPA will host a visit for the Marine Department to exchange views and practices on marine investigation and the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) code. Both the Marine Department and MPA will share experiences and information on their respective implementation of the 2010 Manila amendments to the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) for seafarers through email correspondence. MPA will also host a visit for the Pollution Control Department to exchange views and practices on shipping pollution control.

. . . . .

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Singapore

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of Thailand

24 January 2013

¹ In 1997, STEP was conceived as a broad vision for a long-term strategic partnership between both countries.  STEP comprises of four pillars: (a) civil service exchanges; (b) enhanced economic relations; (c) defence relations; and (d) people-to-people cooperation ^.

² The thirteen cooperation clusters are: Education; Environment; Legal and Judicial; Social Welfare, Youth and Sports cooperation; Civil Service Cooperation; Media, Culture and the Arts; Transport; Manpower; Information and Communication Technology; Science and Technology; Technical Cooperation; MFA-to-MFA Cooperation; and Health.