During June 12 - 13, 2024, Mrs. Arunee Hiam, Deputy Director-General of the Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA), attended the Development Leaders Conference 2024 on the topic “Towards Shared Prosperity: Collaborative Solutions for Global Development”.The meeting was co-hosted by the Center for Global Development (CGD), the Government of Indonesia, and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), in Bali, Republic of Indonesia. Official from TICA was also in attendance.

During the meeting, H.E. Mr. Pahala Nugraha Mansury, the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, delivered a Welcoming Address emphasizing the importance of close cooperation between traditional donors and emerging donors in development cooperation efforts. The focus was on supporting the most vulnerable groups and promoting economic transformation through initiatives such as financial support, energy transition, and the transfer of technology and innovation to various developing countries consistently over time.

On this occasion, Mrs. Arunee Hiam, Deputy Director-General of TICA participated in an exchange of perspectives and opinions in Session 1 under the theme “The Evolution Development Landscape: Development at a Crossroads.” in three main points: (1) emphasizing the importance of the modality of international development cooperation in term of “development partnerships” rather than “ development assistance” and to build up the ownership for the sustainable development, (2) establishing an organization that collects statistics and data on the success of South-South and triangular cooperation, because data is crucial for leaders’ decision-making process, but currently, the OECD, which officially gathers aid data, only partially collects information on South-South cooperation. As a result, there isn’t yet a central agency specifically gathering such statistics and data, and (3) promoting greater private sector involvement in development cooperation, especially in areas requiring significant investment such as Artificial Intelligence, Green Transformation, and Energy and Digitalization. 

The aforementioned meeting serves as a significant international platform aimed at promoting and supporting effective development cooperation among development institutions, international organizations, and various Think Tanks such as APC-Colombia, Indonesian AID, JICA, KOICA, TIKA, and USAID. It gathered high-level representatives and officials, totaling more than 80 participants from various countries worldwide. The meeting facilitated an open and direct exchange of perspectives and opinions on shared challenges under the Chatham House Rule, aiming to identify solutions and seek opportunities for sustainable global development cooperation in the future.