วันศุกร์ที่ 25 กุมภาพันธ์ 2565
Remarks by General Prayuth Cha-o-Cha, Prime Minister At the Joint Press Conference  with the Honourable Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob,  Prime Minister of Malaysia
on 25 February 2022 at Santi Mitri Building, the Government House
Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Prime Minister of Malaysia
Distinguished Guests and Media,
On behalf of the Royal Thai Government, it is my great honour and pleasure to welcome Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob on his official visit to Thailand, which also happens to be his introductory visit as a member of the ASEAN family. I’m also very happy to note that Prime Minister Ismail is the very first foreign leader to pay an official visit to Thailand since the outbreak of COVID-19 which underscores the close relations between Thailand and Malaysia as immediate neighbours. This visit is a timely opportunity for our two countries to further enhance cooperation to achieve post-COVID-19 economic recovery and move towards a sustainable future of the two countries.
I truly admire Prime Minister of Malaysia’s leadership and determination in propelling Malaysia forward amidst challenges posed by COVID-19 and regional situation. Prime Minister Ismail has a long-term vision and profound understanding of Malaysian people, as reflected in the concept of “Keluarga Malaysia” or Malaysia Family which puts aside political, religious, and cultural differences and promotes unity in the country. I very much agree with this and I reaffirm my commitment to work closely with him to ensure security and prosperity of our peoples, on the basis of trust and respect, as close neighbouring countries that may also be described as “members of the same family”
A moment ago, Prime Minister Ismail and I discussed ways to bolster our bilateral cooperation in the midst of geopolitical and economic challenges and non-traditional security threats. We share a mutual objective to expedite our efforts for recovery from the impact of COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure our countries are prepared and more resilient for any future disruptions to come.
We see the need for our countries to reconnect the connectivities, to reinvigorate the economy, to explore new areas of cooperation for the benefits of our peoples, and to emphasise the importance of sustainable development in the border areas between Thailand and Malaysia.
I wish to summarise some of the key issues we discussed as follows:
1. On Reconnecting the Connectivities:
Prime Minister Ismail and I affirmed our commitment to resume the cross-border mobility of our peoples as soon as the situation permits. While taking into consideration necessary public health and disease control measures, we share the hope that the two-way quarantine-free travels between the two countries for fully vaccinated travellers, which Malaysia has appropriately coined as “Vaccinated Travel Lane” (VTL), should take place as soon as possible. At present, fully vacinated travellers from Malaysia can apply to enter Thailand by air without quarantine under Thailand’s “Test & Go” scheme. Thailand is also preparing for the reopening of our land borders. I believe that the Malaysian side will soon allow free flow of travellers from Thailand to enter Malaysia through land and air routes under measures as prescribed by Malaysia. In addition, Prime Minister Ismail and I agreed to task relevant agencies to set up a joint working group to further discuss guidelines for cross-border travels to expedite the reopening of borders. This will help revive the economy and allow our people to be reunited with their friends and families again.
The Prime Minister of Malaysia and I reaffirm our commitment to expedite pending connectivity projects along our borders, including the construction of the Road Alignment Linking CIQ Sadao – ICQS Bukit Kayu Hitam and the construction of the two new bridges across Golok river in Narathiwat province, to promote trade, investment and tourism.
2. On Reinvigorating the Economy and Explore New Areas of Cooperation:
Prime Minister Ismail and I recognized the importance of uplifting the livelihoods of our peoples. Both countries have been working closely to alleviate the impacts of COVID-19. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, we managed to facilitate the continuous transportation flow of goods through all nine checkpoints along our common border. As a result, our border trade and transit trade volumes have increased and are expected to further expand once the situation improves. Therefore, we agreed to achieve the bilateral trade target of USD 30 billion with an extended timeframe to 2025 and concurred that the 3rd Meeting of the Joint Trade Committee (JTC) should be convened at the earliest opportunity so that we may advance towards that goal.
At the same time, Prime Minister Ismail and I agreed to explore new areas of cooperation towards sustainable economy, including digital economy and the Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) Economy Model, which can also serve as a model for development among ASEAN member states.
3. On promoting border development in the Southern Border Provinces of Thailand and ensuring border security:
Prime Minister Ismail and I exchanged views on promoting economic development to uplift the livelihoods of the people in the Southern Border Provinces (SBPs) of Thailand and those in the northern states of Malaysia as well as inviting Malaysia to invest in potential development projects in the SBPs, including in rubber and halal industries. I also took this opportunity to elaborate our efforts and policies to address the situation in the Southern Border Provinces, while Prime Minister Ismail reaffirmed Malaysia’s commitment to support Thailand’s efforts in solving the situation through peaceful means including to pursue peace dialogue under the purview of Malaysia as facilitator. We also affirmed our commitment to closely cooperate on strengthening our border security, preventing and suppressing transnational crimes and other illegal cross-border activities, along with promoting economic development for the benefits of the two peoples.
4. On Revitalizing the existing bilateral mechanisms:
Our meeting today has laid the ground for more visits and future exchanges to resume existing bilateral mechanisms and physical meetings, which have been put on hold, so that our cooperation can be driven to achieve tangible results. In this regard, I reaffirmed Thailand’s readiness to host the 14th Meeting of the Joint Commission (JC) for Bilateral Cooperation which has already been scheduled for next month, or March this year. I also hope that other bilateral meetings on security, economic and social matters, as well as the meetings between Prime Ministers and other Ministers could be resumed and held regularly from now on.
Furthermore, Prime Minister Ismail and I exchanged views on regional and international issues, especially with regard to the role of ASEAN in addressing the situation in Myanmar to ensure ASEAN solidarity amidst opportunities and challenges and in order to maintain a strategic balance in the region. We are both committed to closely cooperating in the context of ASEAN and APEC. In this regard, I expressed appreciation to Prime Minister of Malaysia for his support to Thailand’s APEC host year and I look forward to welcoming him again at the APEC Summit in Thailand this year.
While this visit is the first time that the Prime Minister of Malaysia and I have met in person, I am pleased to say that many key issues have been discussed comprehensively. I wish to reaffirm Thailand’s commitment to working closely with Dato’ Sri Ismail and the Government of Malaysia at all levels and all areas for the benefits of the “Thailand -Malaysia Family.” On this happy note, allow me to send my best regards to the people of Malaysia for their continuous health and prosperity.
Thank you.