AEPF Briefing Paper
for the ASEM (Asia Europe Meeting) Public Conference on EU-Asia Inter-Regional Relations.
  
Recommendations to ASEM8
from the Asia Europe People’s Forum
  
AEPF-8 Call to Action
Challenging and Eroding Corporate Power - Building States of Citizens for Citizens
Thai groups prepare for AEPF-8

BANGKOK, Thailand--Some 40 civil society organisations in Thailand are set to meet on August 18 in preparation for the Eighth Asia-Europe Peoples’ Forum (AEPF-8) in Brussels this coming 2-5 October, where AEPF networks are expected to push for more people-to-people engagements and address the social dimension deficit at the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).


These Asia-Europe Peoples’ Forum networks in Thailand will discuss and share their activities on the key issues—trade, climate change, human rights, among others—that will also be tackled in the biennial gathering of social movements parallel to the 47 Asian and European leaders’ summit of ASEM, also in Brussels on 4-5 October.   

Organisationally, this preparatory meeting will reflect and strategise on the engagement of Thai organisations in regional bodies and processes such as the ASEAN and ASEM through the ASEAN People’s Forum (APF) and AEPF, respectively.

Aside from ASEM (through AEPF), these Thai people’s organisations and non-government organisations will participate in the APF-6 in Hanoi scheduled late September. Participants are expected to share actual campaigns and initiatives on regional advocacy.   

The AEPF-8-Thailand preparatory meeting is organised by AEPF through its International Organising Committee members Focus on the Global South and FORUM-Asia, both are regional organisations based in Thailand.

Among the Thai organisations expected to join the are People’s Empowerment Foundation, FTA Watch, Thai members of EU-ASEAN Network on Trade, Thai Working Group on Climate Justice, NGO COD, some local members of Assembly of the Poor, Thai Labour Campaign, Prachatai, Terra/FER, Democracy Network Group, TVS, Human Rights Center, Sustainable Development Foundation, Try Arm, APWLD, AsiaDDRA Thailand, MSF Thailand, HBF Thailand, FES Thailand, KEPA, ICCO, Oxfam, and ActionAid Thailand.