Malaysian Prime Minister visits Thailand

BANGKOK, Sept 9 (TNA) -- Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia and spouse are paying an official visit to Thailand at the invitation of Thai Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha to attend the Sixth Annual Consultation (AC) today at the Government House. The program of the 6th AC includes a small group meeting, a plenary meeting, witnessing the signing of Memorandum of Cooperation, a joint press conference and an official dinner hosted by Generl Prayut in honour of the Prime Minister of Malaysia and spouse. The Annual Consultation is the highest bilateral mechanism between Thailand and Malaysia with the objective of cultivating friendly relations between the Prime Ministers of Thailand and Malaysia. During this Sixth Annual Consultation, Gen Prayut and Mr Najib will attach importance to discussing ways to further strengthen relations between Thailand and Malaysia on the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations in 2017 and the establishment of the ASEAN Community. The talks would cover (1) Security cooperation including border management, combating transnational crimes and human trafficking, cyber security, international terrorism and extremism (2) Cooperation in the Southern Border Provinces of Thailand (SBPs) and the dialogue peace process in the SBPs facilitated by Malaysia (3) Trade investment and tourism cooperation, which both sides will explore the possibility of achieving a targeted trade of 30 billion USD by 2018, support the role of the private sectors in steering economic relations as well as discuss on joint tourist destinations (4) Economic and infrastructure development to promote connectivity and facilitate cross border transport and travel with the shared view of promoting well-being of the people in the border areas such as the expansion of the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) facilities at Sadao-Bukit-Kayuhitam and the construction of the two bridges across the Golok river connecting Narathiwat province and the state of Kelantan (5) The linking of Rubber Cities at Industrial Estate of Thailand, Songkla province and Kota Putra Rubber City, the state of Kedah and (6) Expedite the conclusion of pending Agreements and Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) such as MOU on cooperation in combating human trafficking, MOU on agriculture cooperation and MOU on education cooperation After the meeting, the two Prime Ministers will witness the signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) on the Songkhla Rubber City and Kota Putra Rubber City between Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand and Tradewinds Plantation Berhad. Malaysia will host the Seventh Annual Consultation in 2017. (END)