On 29 March 2022 at TICA, Mrs. Ureerat Chareontoh, Director-General of Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA) welcomed Mr. Alisher Sadullaev, Senator, Member of the Committee on Youth, Culture and Sports of the Senate of the Parliament and the Head of the Agency for Youth Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan, together with the delegates from the Permanent Mission of Uzbekistan to ESCAP and the Consulate-General of the Republic of Uzbekistan in Bangkok. The Director of the Development Promotion and Coordination Division and TICA staff also attended the meeting.

The Senator shared experiences on promoting young volunteers’ role in Uzbekistan while the Director-General of TICA shared experiences on dispatching Thai young volunteers to work abroad under the Friends From Thailand (FFT) programme. The Director-General expressed appreciation that the bilateral project on the Development of Digital Infrastructure for Ecological Research in the South Aral Sea of Uzbekistan is being implemented. She also encouraged the Uzbek side to apply TICA’s fellowships including Thailand International Postgraduate Programme (TIPP) and Annual International Training Courses (AITC).

Both sides explored the potential areas of cooperation such as water risk management in the Aral Sea region, public health, education and innovation, agricultural industry, solar energy and skill development for persons with disabilities. On this occasion, the Director-General suggested a visit to the Asia-Pacific Development Center on Disability (APCD). The Senator expressed appreciation to the Director-General for great collaboration extended to Uzbekistan and the delegation, and accepted the arranged visit to the APCD on 30 March 2022.