Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad is supportive of Thailand’s efforts to resolve unrest in the deep South of the country through peaceful means and opposes any desires for separatism.
Mahathir held talks with his Thai counterpart, General Prayut Chan-o-cha, on the side-lines of the ASEAN Summit yesterday (Saturday) at Impact Muang Thong Thani, the venue for the summit and other related meetings.
The two leaders signed a memorandum of understanding on seamless cross-border land transport of goods between Bangkok and Penang port, in Yahobaru state of Malaysia, through to Singapore, noting this will help generate revenue for the people of the two countries and help to limit smuggling.
The two leaders also pledged to support sustainable development of ASEAN countries.
In a separate meeting, with Vietnamese Prime Minister, Ngyen Xuan Phuc, Prime Minister Prayut expressed his full support for Vietnam’s ASEAN chairmanship next year and his appreciation for Vietnam’s backing of Thailand’s chairmanship.
The two countries agreed to upgrade their strategic partnership and shared a common view that ASEAN member countries should cooperate more closely and exchange information to manage forest fires and cross-border haze, which is posing a health threat to people in the region.
Both leaders hope that bilateral trade between Vietnam and Thailand will meet the target of 20 billion US dollars next year. They also pledged to facilitate investments by Thai and Vietnamese investors.
