On 5 September 2017, H.E. General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand, had a bilateral meeting with H.E. Mr. Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, during the 9th meeting of the BRICS Summit in Xiamen, People’s Republic of China. H.E. Mr. Somkid Jatusripitak, Deputy Prime Minister, H.E. Mr. Don Pramudwinai, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and H.E. Mr. Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, Minister of Transport, also attended the meeting.

During the meeting, both leaders discussed ways to strengthen the relationship and further cooperation between Thailand and Russia, including increasing bilateral trade turnover to reach the agreed target of USD 10 billion by 2020, expediting the implementation of concluded agreements in various sectors, and the holding of meetings in various frameworks to achieve concrete outcomes. The Prime Minister also encouraged Russia to consider importing more agricultural products from Thailand, especially rubber and rice, and to send experts to inspect Thai livestock, poultry and fishery processing plants so that Thailand can send more of these food products to Russia. The Prime Minister urged Russia to expedite the negotiation process of an FTA between Thailand and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

He also invited Russia to consider investing in Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) and S-Curve industries in areas where Russia has expertise. The Prime Minister also invited Russia to use Thailand’s potential as the connectivity hub for ASEAN, which would complement Russia’s Turn to the East policy. The Russian President expressed appreciation for the Thai private sector’s investments in Russia.

This was the second meeting between the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand and the President of the Russian Federation after their first meeting in May 2016 during the ASEAN - Russia Commemorative Summit in Sochi in the Russian Federation. This meeting is also taking place during the 120th anniversary of the establishment of Thai-Russian diplomatic relations.