Singapore, Thailand to further collaboration in green economy, food security, digital economy: PM Wong
This will be through both bilateral and regional cooperation
SINGAPORE and Thailand can build on its close and longstanding relationship to expand cooperation in areas including the green economy, food security and people-to-people ties, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong during his first official trip to Thailand since taking office in May.
“We are not only strengthening our bilateral ties, but also working together as part of Asean,” he added during a Thursday (Nov 28) joint press conference in Bangkok with his Thai counterpart Paetongtarn Shinawatra. These include efforts to strengthen the digital economy and energy resilience.
This trip to the Thai capital is the fifth of PM Wong’s series of introductory visits to South-east Asian nations, following earlier stops in Brunei, Malaysia, Laos and Indonesia. He is the first foreign leader to make an official visit to Thailand since Paetongtarn’s appointment.
At the press conference, he also said that he looks forward to Paetongtarn and her husband visiting Singapore next year, when the two countries will mark the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations.
“(PM Wong’s) visit provides us with a chance to take stock of existing collaborations and chart the course for future ones,” said Paetongtarn, also noting more high-level visits next year.
She highlighted Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s upcoming trip to Singapore in January, and said Thailand looks forward to an official visit from Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
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PM Wong noted the two countries’ “strong and substantive relationship”. He highlighted linkages in trade and investment, partnership and training in defence, as well as digital finance collaboration such as cross-country digital payment and stock exchange links.
Moving forward, the green economy will be one area of focus to advance Singapore and Thailand’s cooperation. “We are keen to work with Thailand on carbon credits,” said PM Wong. Thailand is stepping up production of green power, including hydrogen and biofuels. “We can work towards an implementation agreement on carbon credits collaboration which would open up new opportunities for our companies,” he added.
Paetongtarn added that promoting collaboration on green technologies and investments in renewable energy and bio-based industries will help both countries achieve their carbon neutrality and net zero emission commitments.
As for food security, PM Wong noted that Paetongtarn had updated him on her priorities on the topic when they met in Laos previously, during the Asean Summit.
“This is also important for Singapore, as we import most of what we consume, and we are continually looking to enhance our food security,” he said, adding that they have agreed to discuss how collaboration can be strengthened in this area.
Paetongtarn also said that Thailand is “keen to keep strengthening Singapore’s food security”, particularly by increasing its exports of premium rice and organic eggs.
Beyond the bilateral relationship, Asean has “tremendous potential to be a key centre of economic growth” for the region, given its diverse markets, size and youthful population, PM Wong said. “But to maximise Asean’s potential, we need to accelerate the integration of our economies.”
One area to strengthen is the digital economy, he noted, thanking Thailand for its role as chair of the Asean digital economy framework agreement and expressing Singapore’s support of its leadership.
Another area of integration is in the regional power grid, he continued. In June 2022, the Laos-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore power integration project was launched, with the intention of forming a building cloak for a broader Asean power grid that can help strengthen its energy resilience and sustainability.
Under Phase One, Singapore has imported up to 100 megawatts of renewable energy from Laos through Thailand and Malaysia. PM Wong said: “We look forward to Thailand’s support for Phase Two of this power integration project.”
He also spoke on the close people-to-people ties between Singapore and Thailand, with citizens studying, living and working in each other’s countries, and strong tourist flows.
Before they spoke to the media, both prime ministers also witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Thailand’s Office of the Civil Service Commission and Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Under the MOU, Thai officials will receive post-graduate scholarships to study in selected Masters programmes in Singapore universities. “This builds on a longstanding exchange that we already have between our two civil services, and I hope the MOU that we are signing and the exchange of students will facilitate even more mutual learning and sharing of best practices between our officials, as well as those from Asean and beyond,” said PM Wong.
On top of the MOU, Paetongtarn said the prime ministers also discussed ways to increase human resource development, “especially educational exchanges for upskilling and reskilling for our workforce”.
Both Thailand and Singapore also share a desire for a return of peace and stability in Myanmar, she said, adding that Asean countries will have an opportunity for “frank discussion on the practical way forward” on the matter at the extended informal consultation hosted by Bangkok in December.
Concluding his remarks, PM Wong said that the 60th anniversary of Singapore-Thailand diplomatic ties will be a timely occasion to showcase progress made in various areas, whether that is food, energy or digital connectivity, and “look at new ways in which we can bring more benefits to our people and bring our people even closer together”.
Following the press conference, Paetongtarn hosted PM Wong to an official lunch.
Afterwards, the Singapore leader and his wife also had an audience with King Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua and his wife, Queen Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshana, where they discussed “the substantial and multi-faceted nature of the bilateral friendship” built up over the past six decades between Singapore and Thailand, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a media statement.
PM Wong returned to Singapore in the evening.
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