Food, energy security among agenda items
Food security, energy security, the green economy, and digital connectivity were among the topics discussed on Thursday by Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and her Singapore counterpart Lawrence Wong.
Singapore’s premier made his first official visit to Thailand on Thursday following his assumption of the post in May.
Mr Wong is the first foreign head of government Ms Paetongtarn has hosted in the kingdom.
The visit holds great significance for both countries as they will celebrate 60 years of diplomatic relations next year.
Thailand was one of the first countries to recognise Singapore’s independence on Aug 9, 1965.
Upon his arrival at Government House, Mr Wong was welcomed by Ms Paetongtarn, and they witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding on postgraduate scholarships for Thai civil servants.
At a joint press conference, Ms Paetongtarn hailed the 60th-anniversary benchmark.
The visit offers an opportunity for both sides to improve ties further and plan for future cooperation, she said, adding the two countries expect to see more high-level visit exchanges next year.
Ms Paetongtarn said Thailand also hopes to welcome Singapore’s president next year and that she intends to pay an official visit to Singapore to follow up on what was discussed with Mr Wong yesterday.
Government spokesman Jirayu Houngsub summarised the joint press conference, saying their talks touched on security, energy security, food security, the green economy, digital connectivity, future investment and more.
Thailand expressed readiness to help Singapore boost its food security by exporting premium rice and organic eggs there, the spokesman said, adding the leaders also discussed human resources development and educational exchanges to boost upskilling and reskilling for their respective workers.
The two countries also hoped the extended informal consultation in Bangkok next month would help resolve the crisis in strife-torn Myanmar, Mr Jirayu said.
Mr Wong said Singapore and Thailand are old friends.
“We have very strong trade and investment linkages, and our defence establishments also enjoy close and longstanding cooperation. Singapore, in particular, thanks Thailand for its longstanding support for the SAF’s [Singapore Armed Forces] training in Thailand,” he said.
“We are both pioneers in digital finance — we set up the PayNow-PromptPay linkage back in 2021, and that was the world’s first instant cross-border payment system.
“We have also launched the first Depository Receipts Linkage in Asean between our stock exchanges — this allows stocks to be traded on each other’s stock exchange.
“And that is also the first in Southeast Asia,” he said.
The two countries aim to build on this close connectivity to expand to new areas of cooperation, Mr Wong said.
“One area is the green economy. We are keen to work with Thailand on carbon credits. Thailand itself is stepping up its production of green power, including hydrogen and biofuels.
“So we can work towards an Implementation Agreement on carbon credits collaboration, which would open up new opportunities for our companies,” he said.
Another area is food security, which he and Ms Paetongtarn discussed in October at the Asean Summit In Laos, Mr Wong said.
“The prime minister updated me about her priorities in food security. This is also important for Singapore, as we import most of what we consume, and we are continually looking to enhance our food security.
“So, I am happy that both sides have agreed to come together [and] discuss ways in which we can strengthen our collaboration in this area,” he said.
“I thank Thailand for the hard work that it has put in, as chair of the Asean Digital Economy Framework Agreement, that will deepen the integration of the digital economy for Asean, and Singapore supports fully Thailand’s leadership in this area.”