On 17 - 19 December 2019, H.E. Mr. Don Pramudwinai, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand, paid an official visit to the Portuguese Republic. On this occasion, H.E. Mr. Augusto Santos Silva, Minister of State and Foreign Affairs of the Portuguese Republic hosted a luncheon in honour of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand on 19 December 2019, followed by a bilateral meeting between the two Ministers. 

The two Foreign Ministers applauded the strong foundation of Thailand–Portugal relationship, which is attributed to the 500 years of historic bond of friendship. Topics of bilateral discussion covered a wide-ranging concrete areas of cooperation, ranging from trade and investment, science, technology and innovation (STI), digital technology, to cultural and people-to-people relations, and trilateral cooperation. Both sides emphasized the need to forge closer cooperation between the two countries in the regional and international fora, with the aim to uphold our shared values as well as our commitment to the rule-based multilateral system to ensure peace, stability and sustainable development. Views were therefore exchanged in relations to maritime security, oceans, and climate change. On regional issues, the Portuguese side congratulated Thailand for the successful year as ASEAN Chairmanship, and reaffirmed Portugal’s support for Thailand in the Thai-EU and ASEAN-EU frameworks, while Thailand commended Portugal’s active role in maritime and oceans sustainability, particularly, as Portugal will host the 2020 Ocean Conference.

This visit has achieved the objectives in raising the visibility as well as the awareness of the opportunities endowed in both countries. The two Foreign Ministers noted a significant increase in our economic cooperation and agreed to further strengthen cooperation in the areas that are in line with the two countries’ needs and expertise.  In this connection, both sides agreed to encourage their public and private sectors have more exchange of visits to explore business opportunities which have opened up in both countries, including the EEC in Thailand, and the Port of Sines in the south of Portugal.

During the meeting with the Thai community living in Portugal, the Foreign Minister indicated that both Governments will explore the possibility of concluding an agreement on labour cooperation, with a view to facilitating and protecting Thai labours working in Portugal.

On this occasion, the Foreign Minister visited Technical Institute of the University of Lisbon, a leading institution in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics, and Champalimaud Foundation, a world-class medical institute, renown for its excellence in cancer treatment. The line agencies of both sides will be encouraged to explore the possibility of collaboration in these fields of Portugal’s expertise which could support Thailand’s targeted industries under the Thailand 4.0 Policy.

This visit of the Foreign Minister also bears a significance as it was the first official exchange of visit at the foreign ministerial level after a long interval of over three decades.