วันอาทิตย์ที่ 29 สิงหาคม 2564
PM meets with South Korean Foreign Minister
PM meets with South Korean Foreign Minister
August 27, 2021, at the Ivory Room, Thai Khu Fah Building, Government House, H.E. Mr. Chung Eui-yong, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea, paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister and Defense Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha on occasion of his official visit to Thailand. Government Spokesperson Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana disclosed gist of the meeting as follows:
The Prime Minister welcomed the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea to Thailand. As the latter has been tenured at the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Thailand before, he hoped that the official visit of the Foreign Minister this time would be like a visit to his second home. South Korea has been Thailand’s close friend and an important strategic partner. The Thai Government stands ready to cooperate with the South Korean counterpart to further forge relations into the future, and to endorse Korea’s New Southern Policy and New Southern Policy Plus in a bid to strengthen relations and cooperation in the green economy, S-Curve industries, and public health.
Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea expressed pleasure to meet with the Prime Minister today, and thanked him for the warm welcome. He has earlier met with the Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs to discuss cooperation in various aspects, including post-COVID-19 cooperation. He is of the view that Thailand’s Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) Economy is a good policy and is in line with South Korea’s New Green Deal, through which he envisions post-COVID-19 economic and social rehabilitation cooperation between both countries for balanced growth and sustainability.
Both parties were also pleased with the increasing number of investors from South Korea in Thailand, the highest number among all foreign investors during the first quarter of this year. However, there are still more trade and investment potentials between the two countries. The Prime Minister and Korean Foreign Minister also agreed on the expansion of cooperation in the areas of mutual interest. The Prime Minister extended his invitation for South Korean private sector to invest in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) in the fields of future automotive industry, semiconductor, and bio-health, on which the Minister affirmed Korean investors’ interest to invest in the EEC, especially in the Smart City.
With regard to public health cooperation, the Prime Minister commended Korea’s effective response to COVID-19, and emphasized Thailand’s endorsement over the South Korean Prime Minister’s declaration to promote Korea as global hub for COVID-19 vaccine production within 2025. They also agreed on the exchange of cooperation for the development of Thailand’s ChulaCov19 and COVID-19 vaccines Korea is manufacturing in a bid to tackle the increasingly violence of the disease.
The Prime Minister and Korean Foreign Minister also discussed culture and people-to-people cooperation, and hoped for an increase of tourism activities between each other’s country after the COVID-19 situation eases. The Prime Minister also thanked the Korean Government for providing COVID-19 vaccines to the Thai citizens, especially workers, and affirmed Thailand’s commitment to also provide vaccines to foreign citizens in the country including the South Koreans.