CANBERRA: Australia and Thailand have pledged to crack down on scam centers and criminal networks following a meeting between the two countries' prime ministers in Canberra on Wednesday.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who is on an official visit to Australia, said in a joint statement that the two countries have agreed to deepen cooperation to address transnational crime.
The statement said that both leaders expressed grave concern about the growing sophistication and proliferation of online scam operations and agreed to strengthen collaboration between the two sides' law enforcement, customs, immigration and financial intelligence agencies to disrupt criminal networks, financial flows and supply chains that enable cyber-enabled fraud and the trafficking of illicit commodities, including narcotics and illicit tobacco.
In addition to the statement on transnational crime, the leaders also issued a joint statement on deepening economic engagement in which they committed to pursue opportunities in agriculture, food, clean energy, healthcare and resources, among others, to expand two-way trade and investment.
Thailand was Australia's 11th-largest trading partner in 2025, with two-way trade in goods and services worth 32.4 billion Australian dollars (about 22.9 billion U.S. dollars), according to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. - Xinhua
