On 19 April 2023, Mr. Benjamin P. Reyes, Secretary-General of the Colombo Plan, paid a courtesy call to H.E. Mr. Vijavat Isarabhakdi, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand. Both sides exchanged views on enhancing development cooperation between Thailand and the Colombo Plan and the establishment of the Colombo Plan’s regional field office in Thailand.

The Colombo Plan was established in 1951 to promote the economic and social development of the countries in Asia and the Pacific. The Secretariat is situated in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Thailand joined the group in 1954. Currently, the Colombo Plan has 28 Member Countries. Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand, as the national focal point of Thailand of the Colombo Plan, has played an active role in the Colombo Plan by sharing Thailand’s best practices and offering training programmes to promote the SDGs attainment. Various areas of the training programmes include agriculture and food security, community-based tourism, SMEs and the home grown approach, “Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP)”.