Addis Ababa — Ethiopia and Thailand have agreed to strengthen their bilateral cooperation to a higher level, according to Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Ethiopia's Ambassador Tizita Mulugeta met with Darm Boontham, Director-General of South Asian, Middle Eastern, and African Affairs at Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The ambassador and the director-general discussed on ways of enhancing bilateral cooperation between Ethiopia and Thailand.

During the occasion, Ambassador Tizita briefed the director general about the current state of affairs in Ethiopia, in particular, the historical context and precipitating factors of the conflict in Northern Ethiopia and the belligerent character of the TPLF.

She further addressed the trilateral negotiation over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, stressing Ethiopia's unwavering commitment to resume the African Union-led process.

In terms of enhancing bilateral relations between the two countries in a wide range of areas, Ambassador Tizita reminded the director-general about the previously held discussion during her working visit to Thailand to reinitiate the various draft agreements and the technical cooperation between the two countries that remained at a document exchange level, such as the establishment of high-level bilateral political consultation, visa waiver for diplomatic passport holders, a draft on cultural cooperation agreement as well as tourism cooperation agreements.

Darm Boontham, on his part, thanked the Ambassador for the overall briefing and appreciated the Government's effort to resolve the conflict peacefully under the African Union leadership.

He conveyed the interest of Thailand in strengthening the long-standing relations between the two countries and reaffirmed the need to expedite and put into action the various agreements exchanged between the two countries.

He mentioned the importance of the AU-led negotiation on the GERD to resolve outstanding issues among the riparian states.

Finally, Ambassador Tizita had a brief meeting with Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Don Pramudwinai.

Both sides discussed the current situation in Ethiopia as well as consolidating the bilateral ties and further cooperation on mutual concerns at the multilateral level.