We are delighted to announce the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Thailand’s Office of Atoms for Peace (OAP) and WINS to launch a series of new activities to further strengthen nuclear security capacity in Thailand and in the Southeast Asia region. This collaboration would not have been possible without the generous financial assistance of Global Affairs Canada (GAC).
This agreement builds on the outcomes of the previous project “Supporting the Development of Sustainable Nuclear Security Training in Thailand,” which lasted between 2020-2022 and helped to enhance Thailand’s nuclear security competences and training at the national level.
Under this new MoU – which will last until 2025 – WINS will assist Thailand in sustaining its nuclear security training programme and facilitate a regional role for Thailand in the ASEAN region. This will be done through several regional activities which will be implemented by WINS. WINS will also provide support for gender equality, diversity and inclusion outcomes in the design and delivery of all activities planned to be implemented within the scope of this agreement.
The signing ceremony took place during the week of the IAEA’s 68th General Conference, which runs through the week of 16-20 September in Vienna, Austria. Also in attendance of the ceremony was Mr Troy Lulashnyk, Ambassador of Canada to Austria and Permanent Representative to the International Organization in Vienna, and Ms Nathalie Semblat, Deputy Director, Nuclear and Radiological Security, Weapons Threat Reduction Program.
In commenting on the renewed agreement with OAP, WINS’ Executive Director Lars van Dassen said, “WINS is extremely pleased to continue building on the competence building initiatives we have started with OAP and to further expand this valuable work to countries and stakeholders in the Southeast Asia region. We look forward to this collaboration and to implementing world-class activities to Thailand and beyond.”
Following the agreement renewal, OAP’s Secretary General Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pasit Lorterapong said, “OAP is very thankful and would like to express sincere appreciation to the Government of Canada for the generous support, as well as to WINS for the hard work since the beginning of the prior collaboration. We look forward to building up the solid infrastructure to sustainably support the enhancement of national nuclear security training capability. Our ambitious goal is also aiming to be able to provide support to international partners and the region.”
