On 7 January 2016, H.E. Mr. Ivo Sieber, Ambassador of Switzerland to Thailand, paid a courtesy call on H.E. Mr. Apichart Chinwanno, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the occasion of assuming his duty in Thailand.

                   On this occasion, the Ambassador expressed his appreciation to the Thai side for its readiness to host the 3^rd Political Consultations on 19 February 2016, which will provide a platform for discussion on a range of topics including expansion of bilateral relations and exchanges of views on the current situations in Asia and Europe and international issues that concern both Thailand and Switzerland. In this regard, the Ambassador reaffirmed his commitment to further strengthen bilateral relations between Thailand and Switzerland at the bilateral and multilateral levels, particularly the resumption of negotiations onthe Thai-EFTA (Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Iceland) FTA at the technical level. In addition, the Ambassador expressed his support for the upcoming Universal Periodic Review on Thailand.

                   The Permanent Secretary informed the Ambassador of the latest political developments and reaffirmed that Thailand is following the Roadmap and progressing towards a return to strengthened democracy. In this regard, the Permanent Secretary expressed his appreciation to the Swiss side for sending experts to Thailand to share experiences in various fields such as anti-corruption and country reforms.