Malaysia and Thailand have agreed to form a number of task forces to boost existing ties, according to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Thailand's Prime Minister, Srettha Thavisin, after a bilateral meeting on Wednesday (Sept 11), Anwar added that these task forces would focus on tourism, trade, food security, agriculture, and border security issues.
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Speaking at a joint press conference with Thailand's Prime Minister, Srettha Thavisin, after a bilateral meeting on Wednesday (Sept 11), Anwar added that these task forces would focus on tourism, trade, food security, agriculture, and border security issues.
Read more at https://tinyurl.com/yr23a234
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NewsTranscript
00:00 With your credentials, particularly in the business sector, I understand your focus and
00:07 also mine, other than the normal security issues, which of course are trade and investments.
00:14 And I'm very pleased that you have given these very pragmatic, business-like decisions, which
00:25 is rare in our normal bilateral relations with countries. And we have set up a number
00:31 of task forces that must complete their work in one month. So I was in the lighter mode
00:38 telling the Thai delegation, good luck, you are facing a very tough Prime Minister. But
00:45 one month is for the agriculture sector, tourism, and the other is for the security sector.
00:54 And of course trade and business, which would include the halal sector. And the Prime Minister
01:01 said that it's very forthcoming and said that hopefully we can increase the trade and investments.
01:16 We complement each other, we help each other as neighbours, and we benefit immensely from
01:23 the experience of both our countries. And hopefully in one month we will meet, after
01:32 the report has been submitted to me and Prime Minister Seta, because we have a lot of multilateral
01:41 meetings. One in Riyadh next week, GCC ASEAN, which Prime Minister Seta will also join.
01:48 And then following that in mid-December in Japan, this is Japan ASEAN commemorative event
01:56 which both of us will meet. And I'm sure, based on his track record and seriousness
02:06 in developing relations in practical terms, we will then compare the notes and make sure
02:13 that we execute it effectively.
02:19 I'm happy to be here and we have had a warm reception from the King and a very fruitful
02:26 discussion here this afternoon. Excellencies has kindly mentioned that the Prime Minister
02:36 said that the way in which we do business going forward between the two countries, since
02:40 we are a very, very close nation, the best of friends for a long time, the taskforce
02:47 scheme is probably the best way to go forward.
02:55 One of the issues that we discussed about was the national security on the north of
03:00 Northern Malaysia and the deep south of Thailand. Those are of very high concern to both governments.
03:07 We agreed to turn the minor war zone into a trade zone. We tried to bring prosperities
03:17 to the people in the deep south and the northern Malaysia that also go in line with the increased
03:25 trade and commerce volume between the two countries.
03:29 We may have enjoyed a decent number of volume of trade, but both Excellencies and I believe
03:36 that in going forward, the number of trade volumes should increase by much more than
03:44 what we have planned to do. The new target will be set and we hope that we can achieve
03:54 aggressive target in the very near future.
03:57 Thank you.
03:59 [End of Audio]