Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia pays an official visit to the Kingdom of Thailand as Guest of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs during 7 – 9 March[...]

H.E. Mr. Waleed El Khereji, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia paid an official visit to Thailand as guest of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand during 7 - 9 March 2023. The Vice Minister's important engagements during the visit include courtesy calls on H.E. Mr. Chuan Leekpai, President of the National Assembly of Thailand and Speaker of the House of Representatives, and H.E. Mr. Don Pramudwinai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, and the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand and the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the Visa Exemption for Diplomatic and Official/Special Passports with H.E. Mr. Vijavat Isarabhakdi, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, witnessed by H.E. the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand. The Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs also hosted a luncheon in honour of the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and his delegation.

During the courtesy call on the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand, both sides discussed bilateral relations and cooperation including the follow-up on the progress made after the Official Visit to Thailand of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, during 17 - 19 November 2022, trade and investment, tourism, food security and health cooperation, as well as, cooperation on the multilateral arena. Furthermore, the two sides also discussed the First Saudi - Thai Coordination Council (STCC) Meeting, to lay the groundwork for implementing the Roadmap to Strengthen Bilateral Relations between the Kingdom of Thailand and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which will be the framework for bilateral cooperation between 2022 - 2025.

The Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand and the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the Visa Exemption for Diplomatic and Official/Special Passport is an important tool in the facilitation and promotion of exchanges of visits to foster and enhance bilateral cooperation, particularly with the increased contact between the representatives of the public and private sectors after the normalisation of relations between the two countries.