PUTRAJAYA: Both Malaysia and Thailand must work hard to achieve the US$30bil (RM122.33bil) bilateral trade target set for next year, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Anwar said the foreign, investment and trade ministers of both countries must focus on this.
"Strong friendship and collaboration in all fields, including tourism, must start with the fundamental issue of economy and trade," he said at a joint press conference with his Thai counterpart Anutin Charnvirakul here on Thursday (July 9).
Earlier, the two leaders had a bilateral meeting at Bangunan Perdana Putra.
Anutin said Malaysia remains Thailand’s largest trading partner in Asean, with bilateral trade already reaching approximately US$28bil (RM114.17bil).
"We are confident that we will achieve the target very soon owing to the joint cooperation we are undertaking," he said at the same press conference.
Anutin also said both countries' joint trade committee will meet soon to set a new and more ambitious trade target.
"We fully support efforts to enhance regional value chains and supply chains by building on the complementary strengths of our two economies," Anutin said, adding that there will be increased cooperation towards promoting two-way tourism with better connectivity.
Last year, Thailand was Malaysia’s sixth largest trading partner globally and the second largest among Asean member states with total trade amounting to RM118.57bil (US$29.08bil).
From January to March this year, bilateral trade reached RM31.33bil (USD7.68bil), against RM27.35bil (US$6.71bil) during the corresponding period last year.
