1. The Third Meeting of the Japan – Thailand High Level Joint Commission (HLJC) was held on 7 June 2017 in Tokyo. It was co-chaired by His Excellency Mr. Yoshihide Suga, Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan, and His Excellency Dr. Somkid Jatusripitak, Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand. The discussions covered a broad range of economic cooperation strategy.

 

2. At the heart of the exchange was the discussion on the development of Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) – Government-driven economic zone evolving around Thailand’s 10 targeted industries. In this regard, both sides discussed possible cooperation on the “4 Development Areas – 15 Key Projects – 5 High Priority Projects in 2017” programme with a projected USD 43 billion investment for the next five years. Such programme included: the development of U-Tapao airport and aircraft maintenance centre; the construction of the Eastern High-Speed Rail between Bangkok and Rayong; the upgrade of Laem Chabang Phase 3, Sattaheep and Map Ta Phut seaports; and the development of 3 new Eastern Eco-Cities. The Meeting also welcomed the signing of a Memorandum of Intent between the Ministry of Economic Trade and Industry of Japan and the Ministry of Industry of the Kingdom of Thailand on Eastern Economic Corridor and Cooperation on Upgrading Industrial Structure, with a view to strengthening both sides’ cooperation to the upgrade of Thai industry.

 

3. Both sides reviewed progress on overall railway cooperation – namely the Bangkok – Chiang Mai High Speed Rail, which will be using Japanese ‘shinkansen’ technology, working closely and collaboratively to promote further utilization of Japanese technology for upcoming urban rail projects in Bangkok and welcomed the submission of the JICA study report on　the new freight rail services into Thailand, vitalization of the East – West Economic Corridor (EWEC) in strengthening regional connectivity and Bang Sue Area Development which is a project to make the Integrated Master Plan, to name a few. In this regard, they welcomed the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan and the Ministry of Transport of the Kingdom of Thailand on the Railway Sector.

 

4. Both sides reaffirmed the importance of cooperation in establishing in Thailand an Integrated Data Center of the GNSS Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) Network to facilitate the development of an advanced information society by taking full advantage of the satellite positioning and geospatial information technologies. In this regard, both sides welcomed the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan and the Ministry of Science and Technology of Thailand on the Establishment of the Integrated Data Center.

 

5. Both sides expressed strong intention to jointly develop connectivity in Sub-Mekong Region with respect to physical infrastructure, digital connectivity for new trading and financial platform, upgraded border trading facilities, regional value chain and human resource development towards Industrial 4.0, complementing the first ACMECS Master Plan soon to be tabled by Thailand as ACMECS Chair 2018.

 

6. The Meeting also discussed bilateral cooperation on strengthening Thailand’s SMEs – especially in the healthcare sector. In this regard, both sides welcomed the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand on Industrial Human Resources Development in Thailand, with a view to promoting HRD in specific sectors including automobile, railway and ICT.

 

7. Both sides also welcomed the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan and the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society of the Kingdom of Thailand in the field of Information, Communication and Digital Economy, the signing of a Memorandum of Intent between the President of Japan External Trade Organization, Bangkok and the Director-General of Department of Industrial Promotion of Thailand and the signing of a Memorandum of Intent between the President of Japan External Trade Organization, Bangkok and the Executive Director, Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency, Thailand and  the Director of National Innovation Agency, Thailand.