Minister of Foreign Affairs holds bilateral talk with U.S. Secretary of State and attended Mekong U.S. and ASEAN U.S FMM in Vientiane

On 27 July 2024, on the sidelines of the 57th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting and Post Ministerial Conference (AMM/PMC) in Vientiane, Lao PDR, H.E. Mr. Maris Sangiampongsa, Minister of Foreign Affairs, engaged in 3 U.S.-related schedules, as follows:

(1) A bilateral discussion with the Honourable Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State, where both sides reaffirmed commitment to strengthen the long-standing alliance and strategic partnership. They also welcomed the outcome of the 9th Thailand-U.S. Strategic Dialogue, hosted by Thailand in February 2024, where both countries agreed to advance cooperation in many areas such as trade, investment, public health, and people-to-people connectivity. On this occasion, they exchanged views on regional and international issues, including the situation in Myanmar.

(2) The 3rd Mekong-U.S. Partnership (MUSP) Ministerial Meeting, which was co-chaired by H.E. Mr. Saleumxay Kommasit, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lao PDR, and the Honourable Antony Blinken, Secretary of State of the United States of America. The Meeting welcomed the progress of the MUSP and commended the constructive contribution of the U.S. to the prosperity and sustainable development of the Mekong sub-region over the past 15 years. The Foreign Ministers also exchanged views on ways forward of future direction and officially adopted the new MUSP Plan of Action for 2024-2026, which will be a guidance focusing in four areas of cooperation, which are (1) economic connectivity; (2) sustainable water uses and management, natural resources management, and environmental conservation and protection; (3) non-traditional security issues; and (4) human resource development.

In this connection, Foreign Minister Maris reaffirmed Thailand's readiness to take the MUSP co-chairmanship in 2025 to advance closer MUSP collaboration, especially in (1) promoting digital economy and digitalisation, (2) combating non-traditional security issues, including drugs and human trafficking, cybercrimes, telefraud and online scams and (3) tackling transboundary air pollution to ensure benfits to the Mekong people and the region.

(3) The ASEAN-U.S. Foreign Ministers' Meeting, where Thailand pushed for enhanced partnership with the U.S. as Comprehensive Strategic Partner in areas that align with the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) and the Indo-Pacific Strategy of the U.S., with an aim to promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

On this occasion, Thailand raised 2 major issues in reaffirming its commitment to further deepen cooperation, which are (1) digital and green economy, through advancing digital literacy to bridge the digital divide, as well as clean energy transition, including through developing an integrated regional EV Ecosystem; and (2) regional health cooperation, to enhance public health infrastructure to prevent, respond and detect health emergencies, as well as combat transboundary haze pollution.