Thailand will be hosting the 6th Meeting of the Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation between Thailand and Cambodia on 4-5 August 2009 at the Centara Grand Hotel in Bangkok.
The Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation between Thailand and Cambodia provides a mechanism responsible for supervising and overlooking the overall bilateral relations between the two countries. The commission comprises representatives from all governmental agencies who have been tasked with duties in the area of development and promotion of bilateral cooperation between Thailand and Cambodia. The Meeting will address general aspects of bilateral cooperation, namely politics, security, economics, society, science and technology and also incorporate the issues of cooperation in other multilateral frameworks including ASEAN, GMS, Emerald Triangle and ACMECS.
In the past, Thailand and Cambodia have alternately hosted five meetings of the Joint Commission. The JC Meeting is divided into two levels: 1) the Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) and 2) the Joint Commission. The SOM, co-chaired by the Permanent Secretaries of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of both sides, will consider the contents and agendas of the Meeting to be presented to the Joint Commission, which is the ministerial meeting co-chaired by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs from both countries. The 5th JC Meeting was hosted by Cambodia between 7 and 10 February 2006 in Phnom Penh.
In the upcoming 6th JC Meeting, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya will head the Thai Delegation whereas Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong will be the Head of the Cambodian Delegation. Both sides will take this opportunity to review the past bilateral cooperation and to map out its future direction in order to maintain the momentum of the ongoing collaboration. The Meeting not only signifies the commitment of both Thailand and Cambodia to continue strengthening their relations, but is also an occasion for both sides to pursue, in a concrete manner, the issues discussed previously by their leaders, especially during the Thai Prime Minister’s official visit to Cambodia on 12 June 2009. Last but not least, both sides also intend to discuss the tentative program and activities to celebrate the commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between Thailand and Cambodia in 2010.
The SOM and the JC will be held respectively on 4 and 5 August 2009. In this occasion, Foreign Ministers of both sides will also have sign the Agreement between the Kingdom of Thailand and the Kingdom of Cambodia on the Transfer of Sentenced persons and on Co-operation in the Enforcement of Penal Sentences.
For further information, please contact the Press Division, Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tel.02-6435170, Fax.02-6435169, E-mail: div0704@mfa.go.th