Mr Wirat Meenchainunt, Chairman of the Bangkok Metropolitan Council, Mrs Chayada Vipattipumiprates The First Vice-Chairman of the Bangkok Metropolitan Council, along with members of the Bangkok Council and relevant government officials paid a courtesy call on the Chairman of the Kunming City People's Council and attended the signing ceremony of the revised Memorandum of Understanding on Strengthening Cooperation and Friendly Relations (MOU) together with Mr Yang Zhengxiao, Chairman of the Kunming City People's Council. Moreover, the Kunming People's Congress delegation attended to witness the signing ceremony.
“On behalf of the Bangkok Metropolitan Council, I would like to sincerely thank the Kunming City People's Council for cooperating with the Bangkok Metropolitan Council in promoting and developing friendly relations between them. It can push for a revised agreement on strengthening cooperation and friendly relations. I am honoured and humbled to be a signatory to this agreement along with Mr Yang Zhengxiao, chairman of the Kunming City People's Council. I sincerely hope that this new agreement will help promote exchanges and development, bringing friendship, close relations, and prosperity to the two city councils and their people in the future,” said the Chairman of the Bangkok Metropolitan Council.
Details of the revised Memorandum of Understanding on Strengthening Cooperation and Friendly Relations (MOU) aim to promote understanding and mutual benefits in various fields such as drainage, maintaining cleanliness and the environment, economy, finance, budgeting, education, traffic and transportation, public health, public works and city planning, tourism, sports and culture, governing and maintaining peace and order, community development and social welfare, including promoting mutual exchanges, promoting and supporting youth exchanges, government organisations, community groups or associations of the two cities under the principle of equality.
In the past, the Bangkok Metropolitan Council and the Kunming People's Council exchanged delegations to promote sister-city relations and develop cooperation. It has been implementing the Agreement on Permanent Friendly Relations and Cooperation since 23 January 1997, with continuous exchanges to strengthen relations and the agreement was updated on 23 September 2013. After that, there was a third latest update to this agreement on April 28, 2024. There were 12 additional important exchanges in various areas related to the work of the 12 Bangkok Council Ordinary Committees to promote understanding and mutual benefit.
After the courtesy visit and signing ceremony were completed, the Chairman of the Kunming People's Council officially welcomed the Bangkok Metropolitan Council group at a reception and dressed in Thai clothes to promote Thai cultural identity as well.
