วันพฤหัสบดีที่ 3 พฤศจิกายน 2565
PM meets with Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs
PM meets with Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs
November 2, 2022, at 09.30hrs, at the Ivory Room, Thai Khu Fah Building, Government House, Senator the Honourable Penny Wong, Commonwealth of Australia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister and Defense Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha on occasion of her official visit to Thailand as guest of the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Deputy Secretary-General to the Prime Minister and Acting Government Spokesperson Anucha Burapachaisri disclosed gist of the meeting as follows:
The Prime Minister welcomed Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs on behalf of the Thai Government, and expressed confidence that her visit would further strengthen Thailand- Australia strategic partnership. He was also pleased with relations and cooperation dynamism between the two countries, both under the bilateral, ASEAN, Mekong subregional, and multilateral frameworks. Thailand stands ready to welcome Prime Minister of Australia to attend the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting.
The Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed pleasure and honor to meet with the Prime Minister. This is the Minister’s first visit to Thailand following her assumption of the position, and is a good opportunity to further reinforce relations and cooperation. Thailand and Australia are close friends, with this year marking the 70th anniversary of the diplomatic relations. Australia stands ready to enhance cooperation with Thailand in all dimensions for mutual growth, and regional peace and prosperity.
Both parties also congratulated an elevation of relations to strategic partnership, which took place two years ago. The Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs commended the Thai Government’s vision, and endorsed Thailand’s BCG economic model. The Prime Minister hoped to increase cooperation with Australia in the areas of agriculture, digital economy, climate change, public health, and transition to a low-carbon society. Economic recovery and tourism could also be promoted as the COVID-19 situation has eased and both countries have fully reopened.
Both the Prime Minister and the Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs came to terms on the cooperation to suppress trafficking in person, on which the Thai Government places importance as a national agenda. The latter was pleased to sign an MOU with Thai Ministry of Justice on an establishment of Thailand-Australia's Counter Trafficking in Persons Center of Excellence, which would strengthen security cooperation between the two countries through personnel capacity building.
Both parties were also pleased with economic cooperation, with a number of large-scale investments between Thailand and Australia, and agreed that there are potential and more opportunity to increase mutual trade volume. The Prime Minister extended his invitation for Australian investors to expand their investment in Thailand and to take part in R&D in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).
On multilateral cooperation, the Prime Minister congratulated ASEAN – Australia’s comprehensive strategic partnership, and commended Australia’s “Australia for ASEAN Future” initiative which covers scholarship provision to ASEAN youths, and hoped that both sides push forward tangible cooperation in post-COVID-19 socio-economic recovery, especially in the areas of public health, trade and investment, and education. The Minister of Foreign Affairs affirmed the importance of Thailand and ASEAN to Australia, and the country’s intention to expand cooperation with the region. She also commended Thailand’s leading role under the Mekong subregional framework, and expressed Australia’s readiness to work together with Thailand in the development of the Mekong subregion.
At the end of the meeting, the Prime Minister reaffirmed Thailand’s readiness to welcome Prime Minister of Australia to Thailand to attend the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting. The country commits to make APEC open to all opportunities, connect in all dimensions and balanced in all aspects. APEC 2022’s theme is driven by the vision to address imbalances revealed by the pandemic and achieve growth through the integration of the Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) model. The Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs endorsed Thailand’s hosting of the APEC 2022 and commended the BCG economic model which is in line with Australia’s policy on environmental-friendly growth and climate action. She also wished Thailand a success in this endeavor.