Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Srettha Thavisin and Prime Minister Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet of the Kingdom of Cambodia on Wednesday co-chaired the signing ceremony of five Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) at Government House.
Five MoUs are aimed at promoting cooperation in various areas including disaster risk reduction and emergency response, academic, scientific and technological cooperation, the transit of goods and trade and investment. The signing involves ministries, the Export-Import Bank of Thailand and the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce, the customs department and the Board of Trade.
Thailand and Cambodia agreed to elevate the Thailand – Cambodia relations to “Strategic Partnership”, which will open up many new opportunities to work more closely. Thailand will open a new Consulate-General in Siem Reap, while Cambodia will open a new Consulate-General in Songkhla later this year.
Both countries agreed to strengthen security cooperation to maintain peace and stability, especially along the Thai-Cambodian border. The Prime Minister reassured Prime Minister Hun Manet that it is Thailand’s policy not to allow anyone to use Thailand as a platform to interfere in the internal affairs, or conduct harmful activities against neighboring countries. The two countries will also strengthen cooperation to fight transnational crimes, especially cyber scam networks.
Regarding economic cooperation, Thailand will host the 7th Joint Trade Committee (JTC) at the Commerce Minister level as early as May 2024, to come up with a plan to boost the volume of bilateral trade. A quick win will be the immediate implementation of the MoU on Goods in Transit that was just signed, which will help increase the volume of trade, especially border trade. The country also welcomes the signing of the MoUs between EXIM Bank of Thailand and Cambodian Chamber of Commerce, and between Thai and Cambodian Chambers of Commerce, which will also help increase two-way trade and investment.
On the development of border areas, the two sides discussed and agreed to enhance cooperation in the exploitation of hydrocarbons resources in the Overlapping Claims Area. Thailand and Cambodia pledged to make their border free from landmines. The goal is to make border areas safe for peoples of both countries. The two countries will make progress on the upgrading of pending border-crossing checkpoints. The Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) will be convened at the earliest opportunity. The MoU on Disaster Emergency Response, which was just signed, will provide a framework for closer cooperation in response to emergencies, especially along the border areas.
The two countries agreed to look into ways to make it easier for tourists to travel across borders and visit points of interest in Thailand and Cambodia, as well as in other neighboring countries in one trip under the “Six-Countries, One-Destination” campaign to promote regional tourism. The Agreement on Border Crossing will also be updated to allow for the use of temporary border pass, longer stay, and access to non-border provinces. Thailand and Cambodia will resume negotiation on the Bilateral Agreement on Cross-Border Transportation by Road to enable border crossing by private cars.
To tackle cross-border haze, both sides agreed to set up a Joint Working Group to map out cooperation, including (1) establishing a hotline for sharing of information and alerts on burning locations, (2) emergency responses, and (3) capacity building and sharing of best practices in areas such as agricultural burning management. The Prime Minister also invited Cambodia to join the CLEAR Sky Strategy with Thailand, Lao PDR and Myanmar to work together on this issue. (TNA)
