BANGKOK, Oct 9 Thailand’s Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Don Pramudwinai has held talks with his Malaysian counterpart Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin on bilateral cooperation, a plan to visit Malaysia by Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha and several other vital issues, officials said.
Foreign Affairs Ministry officials said the discussions were held during the sidelines of the 14th Meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim Association being held in Perth, Australia.
The four-day meeting ends Thursday.
Officials said the two discussed issues which benefitted the two neighbouring countries and to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a plan official visit to Malaysia by Gen Prayut and the Thai government’s readiness to host annual consultations between prime ministers of the two countries in early 2015.
Both also discussed preparations for the Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JC) meeting and for the Meeting of Joint Development Strategy for Border Areas (JDS) to be hosted by Malaysia.
The JC was established in 1987 as a main bilateral mechanism to promote comprehensive cooperation between Thailand and Malaysia.
The JDS was set up in 2004 to promote the well being as well as economic and human resources development of people in five Thai southern border provinces — Songkhla, Satun, Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat — and four northern states of Malaysia — Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan and Perak.
