On 12 June 2023, Mrs. Ureerat Chareontoh, Director-General of Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA), held a meeting with Ms. Géraldine Ansart, Chief of Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Thailand, and Mr. Fabio Jimenez, Head of the Labour Mobility and Market Unit, IOM Headquarters. Mrs. Arunee Hiam, Deputy Director-General, and Ms. Chidchanok Malayawong, Director of Development Promotion and Coordination Division, as well as relevant TICA officials also attended the meeting.

IOM representatives introduced their works in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in supporting the governments of the UN Member States in the areas of migrant and labor mobility, and migration throughout the world including Thailand where IOM has sub offices in provincial areas such as Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and Mae Hong Son. IOM’s mission in Thailand has followed 3 Pillars under the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Thailand 2022-2026, focusing on Climate Change and Green Economy, Human Capital, and ‘Leave No One Behind’ policy.  Both sides discussed possible areas of cooperation’s between TICA and IOM particularly in (1) the Poverty Reduction through Safe Migration, Skills Development and Enhanced Job Placement Phase 2 (PROMISE II) project between Thailand, Cambodia, Switzerland, and IOM and (2) IOM’s Skilled Mobility Partnership project, where the example of IOM working with the plastic manufacturing companies trained labor in Tunisia prior to their movement to France was presented.

Director-General of TICA informed the IOM representatives of TICA’s readiness to enhance cooperation between the two agencies, and suggested potential activities including joint programme for TICA’s bilateral projects in public health, skill development, and anti-human trafficking along the border areas between Thailand, and the neighboring countries, and trilateral cooperation for IOM’s Skilled Mobility Partnership project.