Thailand’s Prime Minister and the President of Korea held a summit recently with the aims of developing cooperation between the two countries.
At the meeting, held on the sidelines of the ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit in Busan, the Korean President stressed the importance of South Korean-Thai relations and thanked the Thai prime minister for his support in advancing Korea’s relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
It was noted that Thailand is the most important partner in the Korean government’s New Southern Policy. The hope is that the cooperation between the two countries will expand into diverse areas such as the defence industry, water management, science and technology, infrastructure.
Citing Thailand’s high economic growth rate and the “Thailand 4.0” policy, which includes the Eastern Economic Corridor or EEC development plan, the Korean President also highlighted the Thai government’s development drive and the opportunity the country represents.
The EEC plan is aimed at laying the foundation for greater investment and the development of advanced industries in Thailand.
The aim is to create more opportunities for sharing ways to increase cooperation and to share vision through the cooperation frameworks with other ASEAN leaders, the Thai prime minister said, referring to the ASEAN-Korea and Mekong-Korea summits. Thailand is co-chair of both summits.
The Thai leader went on to stress the importance of closer cooperation with Korea in achieving shared goals.
After the summit, the two sides also signed memorandums of understanding on science and technology, Thailand’s EEC and immigration policies.
With the science and technology memorandum, the two countries agreed to expand the scope of cooperation in related fields to include food technology and biotechnology, high-tech areas including satellites, and research on nuclear reactors.
Concerning the EEC, the two countries agreed to exchange information and establish a support system to guide Korean companies that wish to invest in the EEC project. The immigration memorandum calls for increased cooperation to prevent illegal immigration and employment.
According to another article, the leaders reaffirmed their commitment to boosting cooperation for co-prosperity, as agreed during the Korean President’s trip to Thailand in September 2019, and discussed ways to upgrade their partnership in various areas.
They shared the opinion that there is a high potential for bilateral economic cooperation and exchanged views on ways to vitalize cooperation in the fields of investment and infrastructures.
The Thai PM vowed to play a role in supporting the New Southern Policy noting that the summit served as an important turning point in setting the future between South Korea and ASEAN.
The PM highlighted the need to seek synergy between the New Southern Policy and Bangkok’s “Thailand 4.0” initiative, a project aimed at accelerating the growth of innovative, high-tech industries in Bangkok.
Thailand plans to seek infrastructure development in the region by 2021 and nurture 12 future-generation industries.
They also agreed to run campaigns to encourage legal immigration and hold annual working-level meetings to discuss relevant topics, the Ministry of Justice said in a press release.
