On 3 September 2010, Mr. Papa Momar Diop, Ambassador of Senegal to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and President of Group Africa in UNESCO. Mr. Jean-Marie Adoua, Ambassador of Congo to UNESCO, Mrs. Gisele Marie Hortense Memiaghe, Ambassador of Gabon to UNESCO, Mr. Diekumpuna Sita N’Sadisi Jose, Ambassador of Angola to UNESCO, and Ms. Brigitte Njock, Counsellor, Permanent Delegate of Cameroon to UNESCO, paid a courtesy call on Mr. Kasit Piromya, Minister of Foreign Affairs, on the occasion of their study visit to Thailand and participation in the seminar which is a part of “African Week” in the Kingdom during 25 August — 3 September 2010.
The visiting party expressed their appreciation towards development, particularly human resource development in Thailand. Apart from being developing countries, Thailand and African countries also have many things in common, i.e. weather, natural resources and culture. Thailand therefore has the opportunities to further strengthen its developmental cooperation with countries in Africa, particularly in the area that Thailand can provide assistance. On this occasion, the Gabonese Ambassador stated that Gabon is rich in forest, and need to learn more about forestry. Gabon would like to invite the Thai side, which has expertise in the said area, to invest in the country.
Foreign Minister Kasit stated that Thailand has clear policy in providing developmental cooperation with countries in Africa. The Thai Foreign Ministry has allocated budget for technical assistance, especially in the framework of South-South cooperation. Thailand has also allocated educational scholarships to the African countries and the Kingdom stands ready to cooperate with African countries to enhance relationship by offering training scholarships as needed by of these countries.
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