The EU Indo-Pacific Strategy represents the EU’s recognition of the importance of the Indo-Pacific, building on its inclusive cooperation with countries within the region.

On 9 March 2023, the EU Delegation to Thailand (EUD) and Institute of Security and International Studies (ISIS Thailand) carried out the third talk of their public forum series in Bangkok. The open exchange furthered the second talk’s discussion on partnerships in the Indo-Pacific back in January, moving its focus to the EU’s vision for multilateral cooperation and its commitment to the region including Thailand and ASEAN.

EU Special Envoy for the Indo-Pacific Mr Richard Tibbels headlined the event as a guest speaker, who considered the region to be important, dynamic and sharing a special relationship, as confirmed at the EU-ASEAN Commemorative Summit. Stressing that the prosperity of the EU depends on that of the Indo-Pacific, he commented that the EU’s strategy for the region is even more crucial in 2023 than it was in 2021.

Mr Tibbels started the discussion with a set of lessons learned over the past years: economics cannot be separated from security, security and prosperity are intertwined, and engagement must be stepped up in the Indo-Pacific. This engagement, he clarified, seeks to make the EU seen as a trusted and reliable partner in a broad range of areas, bilaterally and regionally vis-a-vis ASEAN.

He also pointed to the overlaps of EU interests with Thailand’s aims in areas such as green and digital transition, ocean governance and, recently, security and defence.

‘A Shared Future: The EU’s Vision for the Indo-Pacific’ continues a series of talks that have raised awareness of the EU’s long-standing and important relations with ASEAN and Thailand. Other speakers included Dr Kasira Cheeppensoo from the Faculty of Political Science at Chulalongkorn University, along with EU Ambassador to Thailand H.E. David Daly with the opening remarks and moderation by Director of ISIS Thailand Dr Pongphisoot Busbarat.

Over 30 attendees including students and members of the diplomatic community, Royal Thai Government, international organisations, academia and media were present at the talk hosted on the campus of Chulalongkorn University.

The topic and schedule for the fourth talk is pending and will be announced in the coming weeks on EUD’s social media at Facebook and Twitter.