PUTRAJAYA: Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who is on a two-day official visit to Malaysia, was given an official welcoming ceremony at Dataran Perdana on Monday.
Paetongtarn and her husband Pitaka Suksawat, who arrived in Malaysia on Sunday (Dec 15) for her maiden visit to the country since assuming the post in Aug last year, were received by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim upon their arrival at the venue at 9am.
Paetongtarn then inspected a guard of honour mounted by three officers and 102 members of the First Battalion of the Royal Malay Regiment.
Also present at the ceremony were both Deputy Prime Ministers, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, Cabinet ministers, foreign diplomats and senior government officials.
Paetongtarn and Anwar then held a bilateral meeting and chaired the 7th Malaysia-Thailand Annual Consultation (AC).
During the 7th AC, both Prime Ministers are expected to explore potential further collaboration between the two countries, as well as exchange views on regional and international issues of mutual interest.
On Aug 6, the Foreign Ministers of Malaysia and Thailand had chaired the 15th Joint Commission Meeting for Bilateral Cooperation and the 6th Meeting of the Committee on the Joint Development Strategy for Border Areas between Malaysia and Thailand, held in Kuala Lumpur.
Following the 7th AC, both leaders are scheduled to witness the exchange of two Memoranda of Understanding (MoU); an MoU on cooperation in the Field of Culture, Arts and Heritage and an MoU for Development of Rubber Industry and Economic Cooperation.
According to Wisma Putra, this visit is also part of the exchange of visits at the leaders’ level this year, following the working visit of the Prime Ministers of Malaysia and Thailand to Sungai Golok, Thailand and Rantau Panjang, Malaysia on Aug 3.
“The visit further reaffirms the longstanding friendship and close ties between the two countries as close neighbours and partners in Asean,” said Wisma Putra.
In 2023, Thailand was Malaysia’s sixth-largest trading partner globally and second-largest among
Asean Member States, with total trade amounting to USD24.83bil (RM113.16bil).
Between January and October 2024, bilateral trade has reached USD20.75bil (RM95.50bil), compared to USD20.69bil (RM94.37bil) for the corresponding period in 2023.
