SINGAPORE: Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin will make an official visit to Singapore on Thursday (Oct 12) at the invitation of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said on Wednesday.
This will be Mr Srettha’s first official visit to Singapore.
“Prime Minister Srettha will receive a ceremonial welcome, and call on President Tharman Shanmugaratnam at the Istana on Oct 12, 2023,” MFA said in a statement.
“He will meet Prime Minister Lee, who will host an official lunch in his honour.”
Mr Srettha, who will be accompanied on his trip by senior officials from the Secretariat of the Prime Minister and Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will also visit the Singapore Stock Exchange, MFA added.
A former property mogul, Mr Srettha was confirmed as Thailand’s prime minister by a parliamentary vote on Aug 22, ending months of political deadlock in the country following a general election in May.
In a congratulatory letter sent to Mr Srettha a day later, Mr Lee said: “Singapore and Thailand enjoy warm and multi-faceted relations, underpinned by robust economic ties, close institutional links and regular political and people-to-people exchanges at all levels.”
Mr Lee noted that the two countries have “long-standing and deep cooperation” across many sectors, including trade and investment, defence and education.
Singapore and Thailand formally established diplomatic relations in 1965 and the two countries launched the Singapore-Thailand Enhanced Economic Relationship (STEER) in 2002.
In 2022, Singapore was Thailand’s eighth-largest trading partner while Thailand was in turn Singapore’s ninth.
Bilateral trade between the two countries amounted to S$42.1 billion (US$30.9 billion) last year – a 23.4 per cent increase from the preceding year.
According to the Thailand Board of Investment, Singapore also became Thailand’s second-largest source of foreign direct investment in the first half of this year, accounting for 19 per cent of the investment value from all foreign countries in the kingdom.
Source: CNA
