Project News

BANGKOK, 15 September 2017 – Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand, and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) co-hosted the 3rd TICA Connect with the theme on Building Bridges for Global Sustainable Development: The Way Forward of Thailand-Japan Partnership for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at Vithes Samosorn, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to honor the close partnership for development cooperation between the Royal Thai Government through Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA) and the Government of Japan through Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

On this occasion, H.E. Mr. Virasakdi Futrakul, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, gave opening remarks marking the 130th Anniversary of Thailand – Japan diplomatic relations, and noted Japan's Official Development Assistance's (ODA) contribution for more than six decades towards Thailand's development in various sectors which include physical infrastructure, social services facilities, and environment and industrial human resource development. He expressed appreciation for JICA's Country Strategy for Thailand and the outcome of the 3rd Meeting of the Japan – Thailand High Level Joint Commission on 7 June 2017 in Tokyo which focused on strengthening Thailand's economic development and infrastructure. He also emphasized Thailand's determination to promote Goal 17: the Global Partnership for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and active partnership between Japan and Thailand for "North-South-South Cooperation" in CLMV and Africa.

The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs highlighted the importance of continued partnership cooperation between the two countries and the promotion of "Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP)" to provide technical assistance in capacity building and human resource development for other developing countries and to share Thailand's best practices to narrow development gaps and achieve the SDGs through King Bhumibol's "Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP)". In this connection, the audience witnessed the special occasion of the signing of Partnership Arrangement (PA) between TICA and JICA Headquarters to intensify Japan-Thailand partnership in sharing resources and expertise to support human resources development in other countries.

The event also included an exhibition displaying TICA and JICA and their bilateral development assistances as well as a panel discussion on partnership cooperation in human resource development by representatives from bilateral development agencies namely Kasetsart University (Training on Rice Production Technologies for African countries), Mahidol University (Training for CLMV countries in the prevention and control of HIV and TB), Ministry of Public Health and National Health Security Office (The Partnership Project for Global Health and Universal Health Coverage or GLO+UHC) , and Ministry of Social Development and Human Security (Project on Capacity Development on Assisting Victims of Trafficking in the GMS Countries).

Considered as a flagship partnership for "North-South-South Cooperation", the GLO+UHC project aims to promote and support global health and universal health coverage in ASEAN countries and beyond. Japan and Thailand have gained global reputation for successfully achieving and sustaining UHC for decades. The two countries have worked extensively on global health issues, both at regional and international levels. They have used their wealth of experience for the benefits of many developing countries desiring to move towards UHC. At the same time, they are also focusing on some sustainability challenges posed by current demographic and epidemiological transitions. Based on these circumstances, this project was implemented since July 2016 with the aim of a) improving Thailand's UHC operation; b) providing technical support to ASEAN and other countries in the region of Asia and Africa towards achieving UHC; and c) extending the experiences and lessons learned from UHC implementation at the international level.