H.E. Mr. Don Pramudwinai, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand, paid a visit to the Republic of Indonesia during 5 - 7 July 2018 to co-chair  the 9^th Joint Commission (JC) Meeting between Thailand and Indonesia with H.E. Mrs. Retno Lestari Priansari Marsudi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia. The meeting was attended by representatives of relevant agencies from both sides.

       At this meeting, both sides shared the view that relations between Thailand and Indonesia can be characterized as a strategic partnership which requires collaboration in order to produce tangible outcomes for mutual benefit of the peoples. Since Thailand and Indonesia are the two largest economies and have important roles in ASEAN, both countries should fully realize the existing potential in advancing cooperation in the following areas:

      1. On political and security cooperation, both sides agreed to enhance relations at all levels and to promote cooperation in intelligence sharing, preventing and combating transnational crimes, and countering extremism. Both sides also agreed to build on the success in the Alternative Development Project based on His Majesty the Late King Bhumibol Adulyadej's Sufficiency Economy Philosophy conducted by the Mae Fah Luang Foundation to reduce cannabis cultivation in Aceh during 2006 - 2010 to other areas of Indonesia.

      2. On trade, investment and tourism, both sides agreed to further promote trade and investment and public-private partnership to steer forward economic cooperation. The Thai side proposed a gradual elimination of non-tariff barriers to facilitate trade, especially in agricultural products and would host the first meeting of the Joint Committee on Trade (JTC) in Thailand this year. Both sides agreed to promote joint tourism by the concept of ‘Two Countries, One Destination' and cultural tourism under the theme 'Trail of Civilization'. Both countries are ready to sign the MOU on Cooperation in Creative Industries in 2018 which is in line with the Thailand 4.0 policy and the promotion of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

      3. On fisheries cooperation, both sides agreed to expedite the convening of the first meeting of the Joint Working Group on Fisheries Cooperation to discuss cooperation in fisheries in all dimensions, research and development and investment in fisheries-related industry. Both sides also agreed to conclude as early as possible, the Joint Communique in combating Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, an issue of importance to the two countries.

      4. On social and cultural cooperation, both sides placed importance on promoting people-to-people relations, particularly among youths through exchanges of students and scholarships focusing on Thai Muslim students from the Southern Border Provinces of Thailand.

      5. On regional issues, both sides exchanged views on various issues such as the South China Sea and the Indo-Pacific concept. Both sides agreed to continue close cooperation in ASEAN and multilateral fora. Thailand will assume the Chairmanship of ASEAN in 2019 and Indonesia will serve as
a non-permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council in 2019 -2020.

      Prior to the JC Meeting, the two Ministers of Foreign Affairs had a bilateral meeting. Among others, the Thai side requested the Indonesian side to review the measure on the restriction on the import of Thai longans to Indonesia during July and August 2018 and to expedite the process in the issuance of sail-out permits for four Thai reefer ships stranded in Indonesia since 2014 to returnto Thailand at the earliest date.