Thailand, Myanmar and the US Agency for International Development on Friday signed a mutual declaration launching a project on malaria control and prevention in Myanmar-Thailand border areas.
The signing ceremony was held at the Foreign Ministry.
Piroon Laismit, director-general of the Thailand International Development Cooperation Agency (TICA), Michael Yates, mission director of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), Tin Win, Myanmar's ambassador to Thailand, and Dr Chanvit Tharathep, deputy permanent secretary of the Public Health Ministry, co-signed the document.
Sihasak Phuangketkeow, the Foreign Ministry's permanent secretary, and Kristie Kenney, US ambassador to Thailand, witnessed the ceremony. The project stems from President Barack Obama's trip to Thailand last November. The US president, TICA and USAID signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on trilateral cooperation as a framework for capacity building and human resource development in Southeast Asia.
The launching of this development project expands cooperation between the relevant parties in Thailand and the US by bringing in Myanmar.
The project is the first Thailand-US-Myanmar collaboration after the signing of the MoU.
"It will contribute not only to better health care among communities along the Myanmar-Thailand border but also to the public health environment of the GMS [Greater Mekong Subregion] at large," the press statement said.