On November 18, 2012, President Obama and Prime Minister Yingluck announced that the United States Agency for International Development Agency (USAID) and Thailand International Development Cooperation Agency (TICA) will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate on joint development assistance in the region.

This MOU will represent an important step forward in USAID’s relationship with the Government of Thailand as an emerging donor country. Through TICA, the Royal Thai Government provides development assistance to other countries with an overall emphasis on capacity building and human resources development.