Prime Minister Completes Inaugural Trip to Thailand
On January 9, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim began a two-day state visit to Thailand, accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs Zambry Abdul Kadir, Minister of Home Affairs Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, Minister of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Nik Nazmi, and officials from the relevant ministries and agencies. Prime Minister Anwar met with Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha to exchange views on bilateral cooperation and ASEAN affairs, including the development of the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) subregional program, which seeks to stimulate economic development in 32 states and provinces across the three countries. PM Anwar also agreed to have Malaysia to continue to act as a mediator for peace negotiations with the Muslim separatist insurgency in southern Thailand, which will resume talks with the Thai government on February 21 in Kuala Lumpur. PM Anwar and PM General Prayut Chan-o-cha witnessed the exchange of four memorandums of understanding (MoUs) to explore potential areas of cooperation related to energy and the digital economy. In 2022, Thailand was Malaysia’s third largest trade partner in ASEAN, with total trade reaching RM122.03 billion (US$27.75 billion). Malaysia and Thailand seek to expand annual bilateral trade to $30 billion by 2025.