General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand will attend the 6th ACMECS Summit to be hosted by Myanmar in Nay Pyi Taw during 22 – 23 June 2015 

ACMECS was initiated by Thailand in 2003. It has played an important role in helping to reduce the development gap between Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, including ASEANstates, expanding growth to local communities and promoting sustainable development in the region. The framework has also contributed greatly toward ASEAN integration. The ACMECS Summit is held bi-annually and there have been five Summits over the past few years. Recently, the Summit was held in Vientiane, Lao PDR on March 2013. 

In this year summit, member states will engage in 8 areas, which are trade and investment facilitation; agriculture; industry and energy; transportation linkages; tourism; human resource development; public health and environment. Leaders will also discuss ways to encourage the private sector and local communities’ participation. In this regard, Leaders will adopt the new ACMECS Plan of Action which will set a strategic framework for cooperation during 2016 - 2018.

​Thailand stands ready to take an active and constructive part in this Summit. Thus far, ACMECS has made significant progress on cross-border transport facilitation, which was achieved in the 3rd Vice Foreign Ministers Meeting on East – West Economic Corridor (EWEC) Development hosted by Thailand in May 2015. Thailand will also push forward on the establishment of the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and connectivity betweenneighbouring countries; the promotion of ACMECS tourism under the “Five Countries, One Destination” concept and the establishment of “sister cities” to further strengthen cooperation between border cities.

​Furthermore, the Summit is an opportunity for Thailand to stress her role as a development partner. Over the years, Thailand has provided financial support to her neighbouring countries for the development of various infrastructure as well as educational scholarships and training programmes for ACMECS member states, in particular, public health and agriculture.

​Thailand and ACMECS members will reaffirm the determination to further strengthen cooperation to develop together, which will promote mutual trust and stability in the region. The Summit will also emphasise the need for the members to expedite their joint efforts in improving the well-being of their people, poverty reduction and bridging the development gap. These will ensure true benefits for Southeast Asia region. 

​Moreover, the Thai Prime Minister will attend a Dialogue between ACMECS Leaders and the Business Sector to encourage participation of the private sector in ACMECS cooperation.