Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has told Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam that he has faith in her leadership and hopes that she will be able to solve the conflict in the Chinese territory in a way which is beneficial to the people of Hong Kong and their future.

Mrs. Carrie Lam was leading a delegation of about 50 Hong Kong businessmen on an official visit to Thailand yesterday and today (Friday), during which high-level talks on joint cooperation were held.

Thailand’s Prime Minister said he was pleased with the success of the talks and thanked the trade and economic development of Hong Kong for the working visit of Hong Kong businessmen.

Mrs. Lam, meanwhile, thanked the Thai government for the moral support and true friendship shown to throughout the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, adding that the successful talks today, the first of their kind between the two sides, will enhance future relationships.

The two delegations reportedly discussed connectivity between Thailand’s 4.0 EEC and the Belt and Road Initiative of China, and Hong Kong’s role in driving the Greater Bay Area initiative.

Mrs. Lim also met with Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak and both co-chaired the meeting to discuss cooperation between the two parties.

Dr. Somkid said Mrs. Lim’s visit was a good opportunity for the two sides to extend an earlier agreement to enhance the strategic connectivity between Thailand and the Guangdong – Hong Kong – Macao Greater Bay Area initiative.

The talks focused on five areas, namely investment and trade, investment and transfer of production bases, finance, creative economy, promotion of start-up enterprises and human resource development.

On trade and investment, both sides agreed to increase bilateral trade value to US$20 billion while, on finance, they agreed to promote connectivity between their securities and capital markets and investment in new financial products through depositary receipts, cross listing and mutual recognition of funds.

Both sides also agreed to increase the number of tourist arrivals over the next two years.

Five MoUs were signed between Thailand and Hong Kong today. They include MoUs between the Federation of Thai Industries and the Federation of Industries of Hong Kong, the MoU between the Thai Board of Investment and the Trade Development Council of Hong Kong and another between Thailand’s Office of Creative Economy and the Hong Kong Design Centre.