On 3 March 2023, H.E. Mr. Vijavat Isabhakdi, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, and H.E. Mr. Erling Rimestad, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway, co-chaired the 12th session of the Thai-Norwegian Bilateral Consultations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The meeting was last hosted by the Norwegian side in Oslo in 2015.

Both sides shared updates of the areas of ongoing Thai-Norwegian cooperation, such as academic research, sustainable fishery, and development. The delegates also discussed new areas of potential cooperation between the two countries, for instance, in clean energy, as Norway is at the forefront of the global clean energy transition. Additionally, with the establishment of the Thailand-Nordic Countries Innovation Unit (TNIU) by the Royal Thai Embassies in the Nordic countries in 2022, both sides also expressed keen interest in further knowledge-sharing and collaboration in innovation.

Both sides also exchanged views on Thai-Norwegian trade and investment, which has shown significant progress in recent years. Most notably, Thailand and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) announced the resumption of the Thai-EFTA Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations in June 2022. Thailand and EFTA have held 3 rounds of FTA negotiation with the aim of reaching an agreement by 2024.

The meeting was conducted with a constructive spirit and was highly productive for both sides. The Norwegian side expressed readiness to host the 13th session of the Thai-Norwegian Bilateral Consultations in due course. The Thai-Norwegian Bilateral Consultations was first held in 1997 and was the first bilateral consultative mechanism to be established between Thailand and the Nordic countries.