Southeast Asia Information Port News (www.dnyxxg.com) – On January 21, 2026, Mr. Chulvat Narinthrangura, Director General of the Thai Agency for International Cooperation (TICA), and Mr. Cyrille Bellier, Director of Europe, the Middle East and Asia at the French Development Agency (AFD), officially signed a five-year cooperation work plan for 2026-2030 at the AFD headquarters in Paris.
The newly signed five-year cooperation work plan demonstrates the shared commitment of Thailand and France to promoting sustainable development in accordance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The core objective of the plan is to upgrade and adjust cooperation models at the bilateral, trilateral and regional levels to adapt to the ever-changing global landscape; it focuses on key global development challenges such as biodiversity conservation, environmental governance, the implementation of the "One Health" concept, climate change response, and the development of the blue economy, contributing to the realization of an inclusive, balanced, and long-term sustainable development vision.
Following the signing ceremony, the Director General of TICA led the Thai delegation in a series of talks. The delegation first met with Mr. Jeremy Pellet, CEO of Expertise France (EF), and the two exchanged views on deepening cooperation in development projects across multiple sectors. EF, as a key partner of TICA in several development projects, will continue to support the effective implementation of cooperation between the two sides. Following this, the delegation held talks with Ms. Sandra Casab, Director of Africa at the French Development Agency (AFD), to discuss Thailand's cooperation policy with Africa under the Thai-African Initiative (TAI) framework. They reviewed the outcomes of the Thai-African Development Forum (TADF) in December 2025 and explored models for future joint development cooperation in Africa, with particular focus on the potential direction of trilateral pilot projects in Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire.
