รัฐบาลไทย-ข่าวทำเนียบรัฐบาล-Press Statement for His Excellency Mr. Srettha Thavisin, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand
วันพุธที่ 7 กุมภาพันธ์ 2567
07/02/2567
Press Statement for His Excellency Mr. Srettha Thavisin, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand
On the Occasion of the Official Visit to Thailand of
Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet,
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia
Wednesday 7th February 2024
สมเด็จธิบดี Hun Manet, Prime Minister of Cambodia,
Members of the media,
Today I am very happy to welcome my good friend, Prime Minister Hun Manet, and his high-level delegation to Thailand.
Cambodia was the first country that I paid an official visit to as the Prime Minister of Thailand last September. And today, Prime Minister Hun Manet is the first ASEAN leader to make an official visit to Thailand this year.
Prime Minister Hun Manet and I just had a very comprehensive discussion. Both of us share the same commitment to foster closer cooperation between Thailand and Cambodia, based on mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual assistance.
I have also stressed with Prime Minister Hun Manet that Thailand will continue to be a strong partner in supporting the development of Cambodia.
Some key highlights from our meeting are as follows:
First, we agreed to elevate the Thailand - Cambodia relations to “Strategic Partnership”. This will open up many new opportunities for us to work even more closely.
Thailand will open a new Consulate-General in Siem Reap, while Cambodia will open a new Consulate-General in Songkhla soon this year.
Second, we will strengthen security cooperation to maintain peace and stability, especially along the Thai-Cambodian border.
I have reassured Prime Minister Hun Manet that it is Thailand’s policy not to allow anyone to use Thailand as a platform to interfere in the internal affairs, or conduct harmful activities against our neighbouring countries. We will strictly enforce our laws and policy in this respect.
The two countries will also strengthen cooperation to fight transnational crimes, especially cyber scam networks.
Third, we will accelerate economic cooperation between Thailand and Cambodia.
Last year, our bilateral trade volume stood at about 8 billion US dollars, which is still short of our target of 15 billion US dollars by 2025.
To inject new energy into bilateral trade, Thailand will host the 7th Joint Trade Committee at the Commerce Minister level as early as May, to come up with a plan to boost the volume of bilateral trade.
A quick win will be the immediate implementation of the MoU on Goods in Transit that was just signed, which will help increase the volume of trade, especially border trade.
We also welcome the signing of the MoUs between EXIM Bank of Thailand and Cambodian Chamber of Commerce, and between Thai and Cambodian Chambers of Commerce, which will also help increase two-way trade and investment.
Fourth, on energy security, as Thailand and Cambodia import huge amounts of natural fuel every year, we discussed and agreed to strengthen our cooperation in the field of energy security. In this regard, we agreed to discuss further on the joint exploitation of the hydrocarbon resources in the Overlapping Claims Area between the two countries.
At the same time, we attach importance to the maritime delimitation and agreed to discuss the issue simultaneously with the exploitation of the hydrocarbon resources.
In this regard, I will instruct the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to consult with other authorities concerned, including the Ministry of Energy and the Royal Thai Navy, on the issue for further discussion with the Cambodian side.
Fifth, we will expedite development of border areas.
We have pledged to make Thailand - Cambodia border free from landmines. The two countries will move quickly on humanitarian demining in pilot areas. The goal is to make our border areas safe for our people.
We will make progress on the upgrading of pending border-crossing checkpoints. The Joint Boundary Commission or JBC will meet very soon.
The MoU on Disaster Emergency Response, which was just signed, will provide a framework for closer cooperation in response to emergencies, especially along the border areas like the fire incident in Poi Pet in 2022.
Sixth, we will boost cooperation on tourism.
I am pleased that 1.8 million Thais visited Cambodia last year, making Thais the largest number of visitors to Cambodia. In the meantime, Thailand is one of the top destinations for Cambodians.
Going forward, we will look into ways to make it easier for tourists to travel across borders and visit points of interest in Thailand and Cambodia, as well as in other neighboring countries in one trip. We will join hand in the “Six-Countries, One-Destination” campaign to promote regional tourism. If Europe can do it, why can’t we do it?
We agreed to work on the update of the Agreement on Border Crossing to allow for the use of temporary border passes, longer stays, and access to non-border provinces like Siem Reap.
We will resume negotiation on the Bilateral Agreement on Cross-Border Transportation by Road to enable border crossing by private cars.
Seventh, both countries will increase cooperation to tackle the problem of transboundary haze pollution. The goal is to ensure clean air for the people of both countries.
We agreed to set up a Joint Working Group to map out cooperation, including (1) establishing a hotline for sharing of information and alerts on burning locations, (2) emergency responses, and (3) capacity building and sharing of best practices in areas such as agricultural burning management.
I also invited Cambodia to join the CLEAR Sky strategy with Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar to work together on this issue.
Eighth, on labour cooperation, I reassured Prime Minister Hun Manet that Thailand attaches high importance to making sure that Cambodian workers in Thailand receive fair treatment and proper economic safety net.
On Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia share the same goal of the desire to see a peaceful, stable, and unified Myanmar. Both countries want to see Myanmar back fully in the ASEAN family. The Thai Government will play a proactive role to provide humanitarian assistance to the Myanmar people, and promote peaceful solutions in Myanmar. We will do this together with ASEAN.
Lastly, next year will mark the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Thailand and Cambodia. There will be a series of activities to deepen friendship and understanding between the people of both countries, especially the youth.
Prime Minister Hun Manet and I are optimistic about the future of relations and cooperation between Thailand and Cambodia. We will continue to meet and consult regularly.
Thank you.