Celebrating AIT’s new Charter and last Meeting of Current AIT Board of Trustees

 

The idea behind the new Charter was first conceived during former
Prime Minister of Thailand H.E. Mr. Anand Panyarachun’s Chairmanship of
the AIT Board of Trustees back in 2004, and later on actively pursued
by H.E. Dr. Tej Bunnag, former Foreign Minister of Thailand, and
Chairman of the AIT Board of Trustees, after he assumed the
Chairmanship of the AIT Board of Trustees in 2006.

 

The main reason behind pursuing a new Charter was to clarify and
reaffirm AIT’s legal status and ownership structure, in order to enable
the Institute to take on a more proactive regional and global role, as
a neutral platform along with its partners. Due to the legal
ambiguity in its status when the Institute transformed from the SEATO
Graduate School of Engineering to AIT, the Board along with the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, deemed it opportune and timely
for AIT to develop a new Charter that was more attuned to the changing
needs of the region and beyond, and which would enable AIT to better
address its future needs. Under the new AIT Charter, the Institute will
operate as a non-profit, autonomous, regional organization,
international in status and non-political and respectful of
diversity in management, staffing and operations.

 

The submission of the draft of the new AIT Charter was made by the
Board of Trustees to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand in
October 2007. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs ,Thailand, then took the
lead and chaired an Intergovernmental Working Group which took
charge of the process, and came up with a final version, which was
formally adopted and opened up for signatures on 25th August 2010. It
has indeed been a very lengthy process of negotiation among AIT’s
partner countries, and AIT offers its special thanks and gratitude
to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, for its able leadership
throughout the entire process.

 

So far Sweden, Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and
Nepal have deposited their instruments of ratification with the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Thailand, and will be part of the new AIT
Council. We are confident that our other partner countries and
international organization that have already signed or indicated that
they will be signing will also join the new Council in the near future.
They include Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Germany, Indonesia, the
Philippines, Seychelles, Thailand, Timor-Leste,Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and
the United Nations Development Fund for Women, East and Southeast Asia
(UNIFEM) - now part of UN Women). There is also interest and ongoing
discussion with the USA, Russia, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Israel,
Ethiopia and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) among
others.

 

The last meeting of the Board of Trustees under the old Charter
took place on Wednesday, 25th January 2012, which was chaired by H.E.
Dr. Tej Bunnag, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and attended by 26
trustees, comprising of ambassadors and their representatives from
AIT’s partner countries, government officials, and individual
trustees.

 

The Board put forward its recommendation for consideration by the
new AIT Council to invite AIT’s key stakeholders as Observers, for
which there is a provision under the new AIT Charter. The Board also
recommended that AIT’s host country Thailand be invited to the
meeting of the first Council. The Chairman also recommended that no
decisions regarding AIT's core interests be taken by the new Council,
until Thailand has ratified, and joined the new Council, which was
fully supported by the President. Issues that would need to be
considered by the new Council include the appointment of the Chairman
of the Council, new Bye-laws, Headquarters Agreement, search process
for the new President among others.

 

Mr. Nopadol Gunavibool, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of
Foreign Affairs Thailand, who attended the meeting on behalf of the
Ministry, reassured the Board of Thailand’s full commitment to join as
a member in the near future, and that the Ministry is pursuing this
matter. On the issue regarding continuity and legal status of AIT
during the transition phase, Deputy Permanent Secretary Nopadol
clarified that the current AIT Enabling Act still remains valid, and
there would be no legal implications to AIT in terms of its continuity,
from the current to the new Charter. The Ministry of Foreign
 Affairs Thailand, under whose auspices and chairmanship the
processing of the new AIT Charter was undertaken, has been requested to
consider all legal issues that have been raised.

 

The Board Chairman H.E. Dr. Tej in his concluding remarks informed
the Board that he would be stepping down as chairman of the Board,
after having served in the Executive Committee and Board under
different capacities over the past 7 years. He remarked that it had
been a great learning experience for him and thanked the Board for
their trust in his chairmanship.

H.E. Dr. Tej reflected on how he was called upon by H.E. Mr. Anand
Panyarachun, former Prime Minister of Thailand and former Chairman of
the AIT Board, to join the Board, and the challenges faced by AIT over
the years, and how the Board along with the AIT community and
stakeholders had successfully managed to steer the Institute back onto
a more sustainable path. He added that he has always done his utmost to
support AIT, and that he would continue to promote the cause of AIT,
even after he has left.

 

The Ambassador of Bangladesh and the AIT President expressed their
vote of thanks on behalf of the Board and Institute.The Ambassador of
Bangladesh remarked that under the chairmanship of H.E. Dr. Tej and
with his wisdom and knowledge, the Institute had reached a level from
which it could now go onto a higher trajectory, and conveyed his and
the other trustees' deepest gratitude for all his valuable
contributions as well as assurances of continued
support.  

AIT President Irandoust echoed the same sentiments, noting
that AIT was most fortunate to have had such a sincere,
hardworking, wise, dedicated and committed leader. On a more personal
note he commented that he always valued H.E. Dr. Tej's wise counsel and
considered him as a good mentor, from whom he had learned a great deal,
and that he would always remember with fondness the very demanding
trips he had undertaken with H.E. Dr. Tej to different parts of the
world, in promoting AIT.

 

Plaques of appreciation were also presented to the Chairman and
trustees, which was followed by a small farewell reception to the
current Board of Trustees, and taking of a group photograph
(below).