On 13 December 2017, Mr. Panyarak Poolthup, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand, and H.E. Mr. Mohammed Al Hassan, Acting Undersecretary for Diplomatic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Sultanate of Oman, co-chaired the First Political Consultations between the Kingdom of Thailand and the Sultanate of Oman.

          Thailand and Oman have maintained a cordial relationship since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1980. Both sides have continued to maintain and strengthen close ties at all levels as well as wide-ranging cooperation in various fields and dimensions, especially following Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak’s official visit to the Sultanate of Oman in 2016. Pending issues from the said visit were also discussed during this meeting.

          During the meeting, the two sides agreed to enhance trade and economic cooperation in numerous sectors, such as fisheries, hospitality, medical tourism and energy security, through the encouragement of contacts between their private sectors who will be the driving force in those areas. Oman welcomes Thailand as the gateway to ASEAN and invites the Thai private sector to consider investing in Oman’s Special Economic Zone, in fields such as refinery and petrochemical industry, as Oman is a potential gateway for Thailand to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) market. Furthermore, Oman is keen to learn Thailand’s best practices in tourism through “branding”, logistics, sciences and technology, public health and fisheries in particular. On the other hand, Thailand also seeks to expand cooperation in energy, education, and fishery with the Omani side.

          On multilateral dimension, the two sides discussed further cooperation in multilateral frameworks including the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD), the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the United Nations (UN), as well as exchanged views concerning ongoing regional situations and development in East Asia, Southeast Asia and Middle East regions.