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Informal Dialogue with ORI and PCB
On 11 March 2019, during the International Seminar entitled “A Better Public Service Delivery in the Era of Disruption” which took place to celebrate the 19th anniversary of the establishment of Ombudsman Republik Indonesia (ORI), the Thai Ombudsman, ORI, and the Public Complaints Bureau (PCB) of Malaysia, participated in an informal dialogue on the establishment of the ASEAN Ombudsman Forum (AOF), an initiative proposed by the Thai Ombudsman to bring together Ombudsman colleagues in member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), in which Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia hold membership and are three of its founding members, the others include the Philippines and Singapore.
The dialogue was presided by Mr. Viddhavat Rajatanun, Chief Ombudsman of Thailand and IOI treasurer; Mr. Somsak Suwansujarit, Thai Ombudsman; Prof. Amzulian Rifai, Chief Ombudsman of Indonesia; Mr. Alvin Lie, Indonesian Ombudsman; Datuk Harjeet Singh, Director-General of PCB; and other accompanying officials. The dialogue yielded positive results as all Sides agreed in principle on the establishment of AOF and will pursue further talks in the coming months to reach an agreement upon the forum’s scope of cooperation and mechanisms.
The meeting came in close proximity following the Thai Ombudsman office’s delegation visits to the Philippines in December 2018, and to Vietnam in early March 2019. During such occasions, the Thai delegation discussed the enhancement of bilateral cooperation with the Philippine Ombudsman and the Government Inspectorate of Vietnam (GIV). The Philippine and Vietnamese Ombudsman colleagues also expressed their full support for AOF and are also expected to join further discussions with the Thai Ombudsman, ORI, and PCB as well.
During the same conference, the Thai Ombudsman and PCB also resumed further discussions for the bilateral cooperation between both parties which has been in development since early 2018. Both parties provided that while PCB is being transformed in to a full-fledged Ombudsman office, there will be activities rolled out to exchange knowledge and best practices in the drafting of legal mandates and complaints-handling procedures.
Source: Thai Ombudsman
