On 23 July 2026, Mr. Chulvat Narinthrangura, Director-General of the Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA), attended the Mekong Institute (MI) Council Meeting 1/2026 and Mekong Forum 2026 at the Grande Centre Point Lumphini Hotel in Bangkok. The Forum was held as part of the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the MI under the theme “People, Partnership, and Progress: Powering Greater Mekong Subregion Development through Nexus Solutions.” The event highlighted MI’s three decades of connecting people, fostering partnerships, and advancing sustainable development across the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), while exploring new avenues of cooperation to address emerging regional challenges.

The MI was established on 28 August 1996 through cooperation between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand and Thailand’s Department of Technical and Economic Cooperation (DTEC), now the Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA). The MI was created to promote human resource development and economic cooperation in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). In 2009, the MI was elevated to the status of an Intergovernmental Organization (IGO) under a Royal Decree of Thailand and is now governed collectively by the six GMS member countries.