Thailand and the Republic of Korea to Develop Bilateral Relations into Strategic Partnerships

(27/03/2012)

Thailand and the Republic of Korea have agreed to boost bilateral cooperation in all areas and to develop their relations into strategic partnerships in the future. The issue was discussed between Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and President Lee Myung-bak during the official working visit to the Republic of Korea by Prime Minister Yingluck from 24 to 27 March 2012. Trade between the two countries amounted to 13.9 billion US dollars in 2011. Both countries have set a target to increase bilateral trade to 30 billion dollars within the next five years, from 2012 to 2016. Toward this aim, Prime Minister Yingluck proposed that Thailand and the Republic of Korea reconvene the meeting of the Thailand-Republic of Korea Joint Trade Commission. On this occasion, the Prime Minister urged the Republic of Korea to consider importing more Thai agricultural products, such as frozen chicken and fruit. She invited Korean investors to invest more in Thailand, especially in automobile, electronics, machinery, metal, food production, agro-industry, alternative energy, shipbuilding, digital content, and filmmaking. Thailand and the Republic of Korea agreed to cooperate closely in dealing with natural disasters and exchange knowledge and experience in water management and disaster mitigation. The Republic of Korea offered to support the construction of Thailand’s water resource management system. Prime Minister Yingluck also urged the Republic of Korea to help develop water management infrastructure in Thailand and a high-speed train system linking with other countries in the ASEAN region. Both countries shared the view that cultural exchange has played an important role in promoting friendship and better understanding between the people of the two nations. In this connection, the Korean government asked the Thai government to help establish the Korean cultural and study center in 2012. They agreed to promote people-to-people contact and tourism. Prime Minister Yingluck congratulated President Lee Myung-bak for Korea's success in the implementation of the “Low Carbon, Green Growth” project. She said that Thailand attached importance to this project and would support technology transfer on the Green Growth policy. Both Thailand and the Republic of Korea would cooperate in research and development concerning the use of "atoms for peace." Regarding regional cooperation, Thai and Korean leaders shared the view that regional stability should be promoted through various meetings, such as ASEAN+3, East Asia Summit, and the ASEAN Regional Forum. During this visit, Prime Minister Yingluck and President Lee Myung-bak also witnessed the signing of an agreement on military cooperation between the two countries. The Prime Minister took this opportunity to invite President Lee Myung-bak to join the World Economic Forum on East Asia 2012, to be hosted by Thailand from May 30 to June 1 in Bangkok.