Malaysia-Thailand Border Cooperation To Include Disaster Management

By Mohd Haikal Mohd Isa BANGKOK, Nov 11 (Bernama) -- Malaysia and Thailand have agreed to expand their border cooperation to include aspects in disaster management. Thailand's defence ministry spokesman Maj Gen Kongcheep Tantrawich said the matter was agreed to, following the two-day General Border Committee meeting in Kuala Lumpur, which ended Thursday. "The two countries acknowledged the progress of cooperation including in flood and disaster assistance with the setting up of a cooperation mechanism to better assist people during emergency situations," he said in a statement here. During the meeting held alternately between Malaysia and Thailand each year, he said, both countries also agreed to expand joint disaster training bilaterally and under the ASEAN Cooperation Framework. He said both countries further agreed to exchange disaster management experiences as they boosted their cooperation in the field. Thailand's delegation to the 53rd GBC meeting in Kuala Lumpur was led by Deputy Prime Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwon, who is also Defence Minister and minister in charge of national security. Malaysia's delegation was led by its Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein. According to Kongcheep, the proposed joint disaster training between the two countries would focus on disaster mitigation. On cooperation to stem criminal activities along their common border, he said both countries discussed several initiatives to address the issue. During the meeting, the delegates also discussed issues pertaining to dual citizenship, drugs, human trafficking, terrorism, human trafficking and transnational crime, he said. The meeting, he said, also discussed cooperation by both nations in resolving the southern Thai problem. --BERNAMA