Thai DPM visits Malaysia

BANGKOK, August 29 (TNA) - Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan is paying a one-day visit to Malaysia on August 29 to discuss bilateral cooperation at the invitation of his Malaysian counterpart Dato Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, paving the way for an official trip to Thailand by Malaysian Prime Minister Dato Seri Najib Tun Razak on September 9. Accompanied by his entourage, General Prawit, who oversees national security, left for Malaysia on Monday morning and he is scheduled to then meet his Malaysian counterpart, who is also Malaysian Interior Minister, after his arrival in the neighbouring country. Discussions between the Thai deputy prime minister and the Malaysian side were set to focus on bilateral security cooperation, covering security information exchange, joint handling of border issues, transnational crime prevention and suppression, the construction of border fence and facilitations of cross-border travels by people of both sides and goods transportation. Monday's meeting and talks between the Malaysian and the Thai deputy premiers are expected to come out with concrete security cooperation between the two neighbouring countries, while also helping further develop bilateral security cooperation mechanism beneficial to both sides in terms of peaceful co-existence for the Malaysian and the Thai people. (TNA)