Thailand 4.0 to connect with Malaysia Vision 2020

BANGKOK, September 15 (TNA) - Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha has invited Malaysian business operators to expand their investment in Thailand and to connect the Thailand 4.0 Policy with the Malaysia Vision 2020. Deputy Government Spokesman Lieutenant General Werachon Sukondhapatipak told journalists that the Thai prime minister extended the invitation during his Friday's meeting at Bangkok's Government House with Malaysian Minister of Finance Datuk Seri Johari bin Abdul Ghani, who led a team of executives from the Kuala Lumpur Business Club (KLBC) to visit Thailand, their second trip to the Thai Kingdom in almost 10 years. The deputy spokesman said while welcoming the Malaysian delegation, the Thai prime minister first expressed his condolences to the recent passing of the Sultan of Kedah, who was a former Malaysian King, Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V, and Thursday's tragic fire at a religious school in Kuala Lumpur, killing about 25 people. According to the deputy spokesman, the Thai premier then expressed his support for connecting the Thailand 4.0 Policy with the Malaysia Vision 2020 for mutual benefits and for regional interests among countries in Southeast Asia. The deputy spokesman revealed that the Thai prime minister also praised the Malaysian business sector for their vital role in driving ahead trade and investment cooperation domestically and regionally and invited them to invest in major Thai projects, including the New S-Curve, the Special Border Economic Zones, the Eastern Economic Corridors (EEC) and the Rubber City, to move forward the regional economic and social development. Besides, both sides discussed bilateral cooperation in various areas, including border security, in which the Thai premier asked for Malaysia's support for peace and order keeping along the common border, and tourism, in which the Thai leader thanked Malaysia for becoming Thailand's second largest tourist market, after China, and informed the Malaysian side of the Thailand + 1 Policy, under which tourism cooperation between the two neighboring countries will be enhanced. The Malaysian minister of finance, in turn, proposed that Thailand and Malaysia first increase the connectivity between the southern Thai region and the northern Malaysian region to facilitate expanding cross-border transportation. (TNA)