At Palazzo Chigi, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin attended an official welcoming ceremony and had a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister of the Republic of Italy Ms. Giorgia Meloni on occasion of his official visit to the country. Deputy Government Spokesperson Radklao Inthawong Suwankiri disclosed gist of the meeting as follows:
Both the Prime Ministers were pleased to have met on May 21today, which was a good opportunity for reinforcement of relations and cooperation. The Thai Prime Minister thanked the Italian Government for receiving and welcoming Thai dignitaries on their visits to Italy. He also congratulated Italy on its G7 presidency in 2024, and expressed confidence on the success of the upcoming G7 Summit next month.
Both parties also discussed issues of mutual interest:
On trade and investment, the Prime Minister was pleased with the success of Thailand – Italian Business Forum, held the day earlier. Thailand would like Italy, the country’s trusted friend, to be part of the Landbridge project, and to consider investment in the fields of clean energy, EVs, and fashion industry. The two Prime Ministers were confident that the Thailand – Italian Business Forum would bring about an increase in mutual trade and investment.
The Prime Minister also invited Italy to invest in Thailand in the fields of fashion and soft power, agriculture, aviation, and finance. He called on Italy to support Thai fashion products, especially Thai silk, as part of business expansion of its fashion houses and educational institutions. This can be done through collaborations and sharing of expertise on Italy’s designs.
On defense industry, the two countries have long forged defense cooperation through “Cobra Gold” joint military training. The Prime Minister also thanked Italy for taking part in the Defense & Security Expo, recently held in Bangkok, and hoped for continuous defense industry cooperation through procurement and development, and promotion of Thailand as the region’s advanced maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) center.
With regard to labor cooperation, the Prime Minister thanked Italy for including Thailand in its Flows Decree (Italian Decreto Flussi), whereas the Italian Prime Minister expressed Italy’s interest in hiring Thai workers in agricultural sector, whom they view as quality labor. The Prime Minister also called on Italy’s support on exemption of Schengen visa to Thai ordinary passport holders, as Thai tourists in Italy are those with high spending potentials. Currently, approx. 100,000 Thai travelers have applied for visa to Italy per year. Exemption of Schengen visa would definitely increase the number of potential Thai tourists in the country.
The Prime Minister called on Italy’s support in expediting Thailand-EU FTA to be able to finalize by 2025. He also thanked Italy for its support on Thailand’s OECD membership application which will contribute to the tightening of bilateral relations between the two countries and the negotiation on Thailand-EU FTA.
The Italian Prime Minister proposed an Action Plan to reinforce cooperation and promote best practices in the potential fields, i.e., defense industry, agriculture, agricultural innovation, and designing. The Prime Minister took the opportunity to invite the Italian Prime Minister to visit Thailand in 2025, during which a Thailand – Italian Business Forum may be held to match Italian businessmen with the Thai counterparts. After the meeting, the Prime Minister attended the working lunch hosted by the Italian Prime Minister. (PRD)
