HAWAII : Key members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation have pledged to help Thailand with its post-flood rehabilitation efforts.
The pledge was made in the Apec High-Level Policy Dialogue on Disaster Resiliency, where guidelines were agreed on to support regional members' disaster relief efforts.
Natural calamities cost affected regional countries up to US$200 billion (6.15 trillion baht) annually.
Dialogue partners agreed to help national members in dealing with natural disasters through measures such as risk management capability building and offering advice on government investment projects.
They also pledged to facilitate transportation of goods and services during times of crisis, support community-based disaster management and encourage closer coordination between the private and public sector.
The United States, Australia, China, Japan and Canada referred particularly to the flooding in Thailand and Japan's earthquake and tsunami in March.
They said they were committed to assisting Thailand in its rehabilitation efforts with several measures, including temporarily allowing Thai workers from flood-hit Japanese firms operating in Thailand to work in Japan, according to Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul.
Mr Surapong emphasised the "whole society" approach in resolving the flood problems and reaffirmed several measures launched by the government.
In a meeting with Canada, the two sides talked about next year's commemoration of 35 years of Asean-Canada relations.
Thailand also thanked Canada for its $1 million (30.7 million baht) aid donation to the Thai Red Cross.
Similarly, he thanked New Zealand for being among the earliest donors to the Thai Red Cross with its $100,000 dollar donation.
Following talks with his Japanese counterpart Koichiro Gemba, the minister said Thailand would like to learn more from Japan on preventive measures it has taken and its experience in reconstruction following natural disasters.
Mr Gemba also asked about the progress of the investigation into the death of Japanese cameraman Hiroyuki Muramoto, who was shot and killed while covering the clashes between the military and red shirt protesters on April 10 last year.
Mr Surapong told him the police had extended the period of their investigation by another 90 days, until Dec 15. He pledged that his government noted the importance of the case and would uphold the rule of law.
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