On Wednesday, 29 November 2023, Mrs. Ureerat Chareontoh, Director-General of Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA), had a discussion during the working lunch hosted by Mrs. Jolene Tan, Director-General of the Technical Cooperation Directorate (TCD), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Singapore. Mr. Harry Goh, Chargé Affaires ad interim, Embassy of the Republic of Singapore in Bangkok, Mrs. Arunee Hiam, Deputy Director-General of TICA, Ms. Chidchanok Malayawong, Director of Development Promotion and Coordination Division, and staff from the Embassy of the Republic of Singapore in Bangkok, TCD and TICA also attended the meeting at The Sukosol Bangkok Hotel.

Director-General of TCD congratulated to the success of TICA and ESCAP in co-hosting the 5th Asia-Pacific Directors General Forum for South-South and Triangular Cooperation from 27-28 November 2023, at UNCC in Bangkok, in which TCD delegates also participated. She deemed that Singapore and Thailand are collaborative partners actively promoting an achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through South-South and Triangular Cooperation.

Director-General of TCD is pleased with the fruitful collaboration between both sides. Numerous Thai officials have been awarded and joined the training programs in Singapore. Director-General of TICA emphasized an importance of partnership cooperation with other development partners in providing development assistance to the third countries while it is benefiting Thailand as well. Examples include projects supporting the response to COVID-19 along the Thailand-neighboring countries border and a study visit organized for the development partners to explore a possibility in co-supporting TICA’s Project on Establishment of the Transit and Reception Centre for Victims of Trafficking and Other Vulnerable Groups (TRC) in Banteay Meanchey Province, Cambodia. Director-General of TICA suggested that both sides could collaborate with other development partners such as USAID due to its additional budget for trilateral cooperation with Thailand. They plan to jointly organize training courses for South Asia under the 2024 work plan, as agreed upon at the 10th Technical Cooperation Meeting between TICA and TCD.

Additionally, Director-General of TCD expressed her interest in joint collaboration with Thailand to enhance capacity building for Timor-Leste in preparations for ASEAN membership. Director-General of TICA encouraged both sides to join hands with other existing development partners in Timor-Leste as Thailand now has a trilateral cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in maternal and child health care for Timor-Leste.

Director-General of TICA re-affirmed a hosting of the 11th Technical Cooperation Meeting between TICA and TCD in Thailand by April or May 2024, to discuss 2024 to 2025 Workplan. Director-General of TCD suggested that a meeting agenda should include a discussion on possible activities to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between Thailand and Singapore in year 2025 (B.E. 2568). Both sides also agreed on topics to be raised for the agenda on Technical Cooperation during the 14th Civil Service Exchange Program (CSEP) meeting to be hosted by the Department of East Asian Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, between 23-24 February 2024, which would cover new initiatives such as solving the problem of cross-border smog, with possible Singapore’s technology on satellites surveying heat spots caused by burning areas from farming, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore’s scholarship offering to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand for further study at The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP), the National University of Singapore.

Both sides also touched upon potential partnership cooperation under the framework of the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) as TICA is Thailand’s coordinator under the 3rd Pillar of ACMECS Master Plan (2019-2023), known as “Smart and Sustainable ACMECS”. Short-term training courese or announcing the LKYSPP’s scholarship opportunities for ACMECS member countries through TICA's platform were addressed. In addition, the Director-General of TCD seeked advices on the communication strategy and platforms for publicizing development cooperation to the public. Director-General of TICA gave TICA’s samples of various channels such as social media, hosting congratulatory events for the awardees of Thai government scholarships at the Royal Thai Embassies abroad, and participating in the international conferences while organizing exhibitions to showcase TICA’s development efforts.