On 22 April 2024 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, H.E. Mr. Sihasak Phuangketkeow, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, welcomed H.E. Mr. Kairat Sarybay, Secretary-General of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), on the occasion of his visit to Thailand to attend the 80th Conference of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) between 22 - 26 April 2024 in Bangkok.

Both sides exchanged views on various developments of CICA, especially the progress of the CICA transformation into an international organization, the roles of Azerbaijan as the next CICA Chairmanship, Thailand’s active role as CICA coordinator for sustainable development, including through organizing an online training course, titled “Sustainable Creative & Responsible Tourism Development based on BCG Model for CICA countries”, and the appointment of the Institute of Asian Studies, Chulalongkorn university as the representative of Thailand in the CICA Think Tank Forum (TTF). The Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs also took note with appreciation the plans and upcoming activities of CICA in 2024 and commended the strong and crative role of Kazakhstan as CICA Chairman during 2020 – 2024.

The CICA Secretary-General also took this opportunity to present a certificate to Miss Papichaya Leenapaesanan, Third Secretary, Department of European Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who won the 5th place of the CICA Essay contest on the topic of “The Future of Asia We Want: Ideas for the CICA Region”.

CICA is a multi-national forum established in 1992 by the initiative of Kazakhstan to promote peace, security and stability in Asia. It focuses on building collaboration in five areas, namely military-political, economic, environmental, new challenges and threats, and human. Currently, CICA has 28 member states, including three ASEAN countries, namely Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia.