During 21–22 August 2025, Lieutenant Sorawud Preededilok, Minister attached to the Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA), led a TICA delegation on a visit to the Republic of South Africa to strengthen development cooperation in various areas. On this occasion, Lt. Sorawud and the delegation engaged in discussions with South African government agencies as well as regional development organizations based in South Africa.

(1) On 21 August 2025, Lt. Sorawud led the delegation in a meeting with the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation of the Republic of South Africa (DIRCO), the African Renaissance and International Cooperation Fund (ARF), and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD), at DIRCO Headquarters in Pretoria. The meeting aimed to present Thailand’s international development cooperation policy, including the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP), and to promote Thailand’s role as a development partner through bilateral projects, human resource development, and Triangular Cooperation in areas of mutual interest.

During the discussions with Mr. Henry William Short, Director for the African Union, and Mr. Raymond Medhurst, Director for Southeast Asia of DIRCO, both sides agreed to strengthen development cooperation by enhancing regional integration to increase productive capacity and promote economies of scale, in alignment with the African Union’s Agenda 2063. Accordingly, Thailand expressed its willingness to share technical expertise in areas of its strength. On this occasion, Lt. Sorawud also extended his congratulations to South Africa on its G20 Presidency and discussed the convening of the Thailand–South Africa Senior Officials’ Meeting, as well as the progress of the draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

Furthermore, during the discussion with Dr. Msingathi Sipuka, Chief of Staff of AUDA-NEPAD, both parties agreed that development cooperation must be guided by the perspectives and priorities of African countries. In this regard, AUDA-NEPAD expressed interest in 6 key sectors: health, agriculture, social development, skills development, green-ecological tourism, and climate change. They also conveyed its readiness to jointly develop a cooperation framework based on mutual interests with a view to advancing future development cooperation.

(2) On 22 August 2025, Lt. Sorawud, together with the delegation, met with Dr. Aquina Thulare, Technical Specialist on Health Economics for the National Health Insurance (NHI) of the National Department of Health in Pretoria, to advance development cooperation in the health sector. Discussions focused on key areas including Universal Health Coverage (UHC), Health Technology Assessment (HTA), communicable disease prevention and control, digital health innovation, vaccine cooperation, innovative health financing, and health taxes. Thailand also presented its pharmaceutical products, medical supplies, and medical devices.

Accordingly, The South African side expressed interest in exchanging knowledge and technical cooperation, particularly in the development of medical personnel, hospital management, strengthening laboratory capacity and biosafety, as well as scholarships for master’s degrees in public health. Both sides also discussed the follow-up on the progress of the draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), reaffirming their shared commitment to deepening the partnership.