On 16 July 2025, Dr. Pranpreya Sriwannawit Lundberg, Director of International Policy Partnership at NXPO, and Dr. Soontharee Namliwal, Senior Policy Specialist, represented Thailand at the Second Meeting of the BIMSTEC Expert Group on Human Resource Development and the Workshop to finalize the draft Human Resource Development Implementation Plan 2025–2029, held in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Hosted by Sri Lanka—one of the founding members of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) and the lead country in the Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) sector, covering issues of technology, public health, and human resource development—the meetings focused on enhancing regional collaboration in human resource development. A key outcome of the meetings was the completion of the Human Resource Development Implementation Plan 2025–2029, which will guide future cooperation among member states.
The Thai delegation delivered a presentation in a session titled “Addressing Key National Challenges in Human Resource Development across the BIMSTEC Region: Strategies for Overcoming Barriers and Advancing Regional Cooperation,” and provided input and recommendations to help finalize the draft implementation plan.
As Thailand’s official representative in the BIMSTEC Expert Group on Human Resource Development (BIMSTEC EGHRD), NXPO has provided inputs for the BIMSTEC Plan of Action on Human Resource Development since the drafting process began in 2024—both through participation in key meetings and formal submissions via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the BIMSTEC Secretariat. The plan was officially endorsed at the Twentieth BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting on 3 April 2025 and subsequently adopted as part of the Sixth BIMSTEC Summit Declaration on 4 April 2025.
