During 6-8 April 2016, H.E. Mr. Apichart Chinwanno, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs led a delegation comprising Thai public and private sectors to visit the Republic of Cuba to attend the First Meeting of the Political Consultation between the Kingdom of Thailand and the Republic of Cuba. The Meeting was co-chaired by the Permanent Secretary and H.E. Mr. Marcelino Medina Gonzalez, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba.

During the meeting, both sides discussed ways and means to enhance bilateral cooperation in wide-ranging areas. On trade and investment, Cuban side encouraged Thailand’s investment in Cuba especially in the hotel business as Cuba now attracts increasingly higher number of foreign tourists. On the technical cooperation, both sides were keen to share the experiences in the areas of each other’s expertise, such as Cuba’s expertise in the fields of public health, medicine and pharmacy and Thailand’s experience in the areas of tourism and agriculture. Furthermore, the two sides exchanged views on cooperation in multilateral frameworks including the UN and G77 of which Thailand is the current Chair and agreed to expedite the negotiation of pending bilateral agreements.

The Permanent Secretary also paid a courtesy call on H.E. Mr. Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba. Their discussion focused on the strengthening of the two countries’ their relationship in the bilateral and multilateral level. The Permanent Secretary also reaffirmed the invitation from H.E. Mr. Don Pramudwinai, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand extended to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba to pay an official visit to Thailand.

Moreover, the Permanent Secretary paid a courtesy call on H.E. Mrs. Ileana Nunez, Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment of Cuba and participated in a business seminar and a business matching activity with Cuban private sectors.

Thailand and Cuba established their diplomatic relations on 15 May 1968.