THAILAND, June 25, 2018.- Thailand and Cuba commemorated 60 years of Diplomatic Relations with a high-level seminar at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok. The event was attended by Ambassador Sarun Charoensuwan, Director General of the Department of America and South Pacific of the Foreign Ministry; General Surapong Suwana-adth, Chairman of the Thailand-Cuba Parliamentary Friendship Group; Ambassador Sakthip Krairiksh, Vice Chair of the Thailand-Cuba Parliamentary Friendship Group, other representatives of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA), senior executives of the Ministries of Public Health, Science and Technology and Trade, as well as representatives of institutions, companies and Thai counterparts in cooperation projects.
In the cordial meeting the good path of the bilateral relations between the two countries was ratified and the mutual will to continue strengthening them was reiterated. Both sides highlighted the historical significance of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, which began on 15/5/1958. In the exchange were presented the positive outcomes of the visits to Cuba in 2018 of high-level delegations from the educational sector, the Ministry of Public Health and the NLA of Thailand, which allowed identifying ways to expand bilateral relations.
The progress and potential of bilateral cooperation in the fields of biotechnological applications, tourism, health, education and sports were reviewed; especially the joint efforts in the medical-pharmaceutical production for the treatment of cancer, diabetes and autoimmune diseases as a contribution to the Development Strategy 4.0 in Thailand, aimed at raising the competitiveness and sustainability of its socio-economic model in accordance with the National Philosophy of Sufficient Economy. The possibility of triangular cooperation with countries of the region was also evaluated, as well as the mutual desire to expand bilateral trade.
During the talk, the progress of the updating process of the Cuban economic and social development model was addressed. Representatives of the NLA, the Ministry of Public Health and Siam Bioscience Company Limited highlighted as experiences of their visits the level of respect and defense of human rights in Cuba, which include universal and free-of-charge education and health-care and for all Cubans. The Cuban Ambassador to Thailand, Héctor Conde, thanked the Director General, the government and the people of Thailand for their support for the United Nations Resolution on the need to end the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States government against Cuba.
Both sides agreed on the importance of promoting South-South cooperation; of inter-regional collaboration within the framework of the Latin America-East Asia Cooperation Forum (FEALAC); as well as in the multilateral forums related to the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals, the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the efforts by the international community for the total elimination of nuclear weapons.
