Sri Lanka and Thailand Explore New Horizons in Economic Education Collaboration

Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to Thailand, H E Wijayanthi Edirisinghe, met with Professor Peera Charoenporn, Dean of the Faculty of Economics at Thammasat University on 16 September 2025 at the University premises to discuss new avenues for enhancing educational collaboration between Sri Lanka and Thailand.

During the discussions, both sides focused on opportunities in areas such as the formulation of economic policies for developing countries, student exchange programmes for undergraduate and postgraduate students in economics, and the possibility of offering scholarships to Sri Lankan students.

Thammasat University, with a distinguished history of 76 years, is recognized as a pioneer institution in economic studies in Thailand and currently ranks second in the country after Chulabhorn University. Professor Charoenporn noted that while Sri Lankan students have benefited from scholarships in the past and the University offers scholarships to undergraduate/postgraduate students across the South Asian region currently maintains more than 100 exchange programmes with various international institutions.

Ambassador Edirisinghe highlighted that several state own Universities in Sri Lanka and leading Institutions for economics and business management, could serve as strong partners for student exchange programmes with Thammasat University. She also underscored Sri Lanka’s unique policy of comprehensive free education, introduced in 1945, which guarantees universal, non-discriminatory access to education from primary to university level.

Agreeing with the Ambassador, Associate Professor Charoenporn reaffirmed that Thammasat University seeks students with strong quantitative abilities and currently hosts students from South Asian and Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, and India.

In response to the Ambassador’s interest in academic forums, Professor Charoenporn shared that Thammasat University had hosted the 19th East Asian Economic Association’s (EAEA) annual conference last year, with the participation from leading scholars and academics around the Asian region, and expressed willingness to share details of future events with the Embassy to enable Sri Lankan academics to take part. He also invited Sri Lankan academics and students residing in Thailand to engage in the University’s frequent academic discussions and policy analysis forums.

The meeting was attended by Asst. Professor Chaleampong Kongcharoen, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Dr. Sirilaksana Kohman, Mrs. Narisa Klieothong, International Affairs Coordinator of the Faculty of Economics of Thammasat University, Ms. Thilini Ihalage, Minister Counsellor/Head of Chancery, and Ms. Shiwanthi Abeyarathne, Minister Counsellor/Commerce of the Embassy.

Embassy and Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka in Bangkok
18 September 2025