Thailand and Indonesia have agreed to raise their bilateral relations to a “strategic partnership”, strengthening cooperation in security, trade, investment, food security, tourism and people-to-people exchanges.
The agreements are the outcomes of bilateral talks between Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto, who is visiting Bangkok at the invitation of the Thai leader.
Prabowo’s two-day trip marks his first official visit to Thailand since assuming office in October last year, and the first official visit to Thailand by an Indonesian president in 20 years.
This morning, the Indonesian president and the Thai prime minister inspected a guard of honour at Government House, before witnessing the signing of agreements and Memoranda of Understanding.
At a press briefing, President Prabowo praised the bilateral discussions, which were the first conducted under the newly established “Leaders’ Consultation” framework.
According to a statement from Thailand’s Government House, both leaders will formulate a plan of action to advance the strategic partnership. They also pledged to collaborate on the prevention and suppression of transnational crime, especially online scams and human trafficking.
On the economic front, both countries agreed to boost bilateral trade and investment, under the framework of the Joint Trade Committee (JTC).
In addition, they endorsed the establishment of a “Halal Task Force”, aimed at raising the standards of halal food production.
