Singapore and Thailand to pursue promising areas of economic cooperation 

PM Lee hosted a lunch for the Thailand Prime Minister’s visit.

There are plenty more promising areas of economic cooperation to pursue between Singapore and Thailand according to Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

In his toast during the official lunch in honour of the visit of Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin in Singapore, lauded the two countries close ties calling it substantial.

“Economically, our relations are substantial. In 2022 last year, Singapore was Thailand’s 8th largest trading partner while Thailand was Singapore’s 9th largest trading partner. And the Bilateral trade increased by nearly a quarter, year-on-year to $42.1b. In fact, bilateral trade increased successively over the last two years, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Singapore was also the second highest source of foreign direct investment into Thailand for the first half of 2023,” Lee said.

Lee said there are many ‘promising’ areas for economic cooperation that the two countries can work on.

“For example, the Digital Economy. Singapore’s PayNow and Thailand’s PromptPay launched a cross-border fast payment system in April 2021, a world first. And we welcome Thailand’s interest to join the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA), which will facilitate Thai businesses’ participation in the Digital Economy and create further growth opportunities that will benefit both countries,” Lee said.

Another promising area Lee mentioned is the Green Economy. He then thanked Thailand for participating in the Lao PDR-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore Power Integration Project and said he looks forward to building on this momentum to strengthen energy collaboration with Thailand, which Lee said will unlock ASEAN’s potential for cross-border renewable energy trade. 

Lee added that the two countries could also cooperate further in carbon trading, to benefit from green growth opportunities whilst contributing to the global climate agenda.

Lee then wrapped up his speech by saying that he looks forward to working with Prime Minster Srettha and his government to enhance their ties further.