Thailand and Nepal exchanged views on the COVID-19 situation and agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation on technical cooperation, trade and investment, education, and tourism, as well as the religious and cultural ties during the 5th Meeting of Thailand - Nepal Joint Commission.
On 25 August 2021, Mr. Thani Thongphakdi, Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Thailand and Mr. Bharat Raj Paudyal, Foreign Secretary of Nepal, co-chaired the 5th Meeting of Thailand - Nepal Joint Commission. Both sides discussed ways and means to further strengthen cooperation in several areas such as technical cooperation, trade and investment, education, tourism, culture and people-to-people contact.
The Co-Chairs provided updates on their foreign policies and experiences on the COVID-19 mitigation and post COVID-19 recovery plan.
Mr. Paudyal expressed sincere gratitude, on behalf of the Government of Nepal, for the humanitarian assistance bestowed by Their Majesties the King and Queen of Thailand and Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha Narendiradebyavati as well as by the Royal Thai Government and non-governmental organisations to help Nepal combat the COVID-19 pandemic, which reflects the close friendship between the two countries. The Nepali side also expressed a sincere appreciation to the Thai Red Cross for the construction of new Blood Transfusion Centre in Kathmandu.
The Thai side reaffirmed readiness to continue the Project of Maternity Hospital in Lumbini and to provide human resources development to
the Nepalis through training courses and scholarships. Thailand will also support Nepal in achieving sustainable development in tourism and agriculture through Thailand’s Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) economy model. Both sides also agreed to reduce trade barriers and promote investments between the two countries. On multilateral level, they discussed mutual support in several frameworks including the United Nations and BIMSTEC.