BANGKOK: Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul held talks with Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan on advancing economic and energy cooperation, with both sides pushing ahead with the Asean Power Grid to strengthen energy security, attract investment to Thailand and elevate Asean towards seamless connectivity.
On July 13, 2026, at 10.45am at Thai Khu Fah Building, Government House, Anutin welcomed Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Singapore, during his courtesy call.
The two sides discussed ways to expand bilateral cooperation, with a strong focus on the economy, energy and regional infrastructure connectivity.
Thailand, Singapore prepare Leaders’ Retreat
During the meeting, the Prime Minister thanked Vivian for visiting Thailand and expressed appreciation for his participation in paying respects to the royal remains of Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha Narendira Debyavati.
Both sides also discussed preparations for the Thailand-Singapore Leaders’ Retreat, which Thailand is scheduled to host later this year.
The discussions covered several key areas:
Economic opportunities: Thailand expects leading Singaporean business executives to join the meeting to expand trade and investment opportunities.
Cooperation mechanism: Both countries agreed to use the Civil Service Exchange Programme, or CSEP, as the main mechanism for preparation.
Asean Power Grid highlighted for regional energy security
A key highlight of the talks was energy cooperation, with Thailand and Singapore agreeing to upgrade the Asean Power Grid project.
The project links electricity systems among four countries: Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.
Its main objectives are:
Strengthening energy security: reducing dependence on energy sources from outside the region.
Managing volatility: increasing joint energy-management capacity to cope with uncertainty in the global situation, particularly the Middle East crisis.
Advancing seamless Asean connectivity: supporting a more integrated regional energy network.
The Prime Minister stressed that energy infrastructure connectivity is an important step under the Seamless Connectivity strategy for Asean.
In the long term, the approach is expected to increase Asean’s competitiveness on the global stage, attract foreign direct investment, or FDI, and strengthen economic security and improve people’s quality of life.
The Thai government has continuously pushed forward the concept of Seamless Connectivity. Earlier, the Prime Minister also discussed the issue with the Malaysian Prime Minister, with the aim of making Asean connectivity concrete and delivering shared benefits across the region. - The Nation/ANN
