BANGKOK, Thailand – Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong have concluded the 5th Thailand–Singapore Leaders’ Retreat at the Author’s Lounge, G Floor, Mandarin Oriental Bangkok, reviving the high-level meeting after an 11-year hiatus. The leaders endorsed a joint statement on the Thailand–Singapore forward-looking strategic partnership and witnessed the exchange of an MOU on social development, while agreeing to pursue four additional agreements.
Discussions covered energy and food security, trade and investment, digital connectivity, artificial intelligence, defense, and cybersecurity. Thailand will supply Singapore with 100,000 tons of Thai rice over five years under a rice trade agreement, while both countries will expand cooperation on the ASEAN Power Grid, carbon credits, hydrogen, green finance, low-carbon technology, and carbon capture. Both countries also discussed investment in semiconductors, the digital and green economies, logistics, workforce development, and Thailand’s accession to the OECD.
The two countries are set to expand digital and financial connectivity following the launch of their PromptPay-PayNow linkage in 2021, while exploring broader payment connections and fintech cooperation. Other areas included AI applications in manufacturing, healthcare, and tourism, as well as transport and logistics links, people-to-people ties, and efforts to combat online scams.
Anutin and Wong also discussed regional developments ahead of Singapore’s ASEAN Chairmanship in 2027 and Thailand’s in 2028, agreeing to develop a multi-year agenda across their successive chairmanships. Talks also covered Myanmar and Thailand-Cambodia relations, while Thailand will host meetings between the two countries’ foreign and trade ministers to follow up on the retreat. (NNT)
