On 27 – 28 November 2018, General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand, together with H.E. Mr. Don Pramudwinai, Minister of Foreign Affairs and accompanying delegation, paid an official visit to Berlin, the Federal Republic of Germany, to enhance Thai-German relations.

            Prime Minister Prayut had discussions with Chancellor Angela Merkel at the Federal Chancellery in Berlin on 28 November 2018. Both leaders reaffirmed their countries’ commitment to multilateralism, free trade and a rules-based international order. They also agreed to work closely to address global challenges during Thailand’s ASEAN Chairmanship and Germany’s non-Permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). They will also elevate their partnership on sustainable development under the trilateral and ASEAN frameworks and promote greater connectivity in all dimensions between Europe and ASEAN, as well as between Europe and Asia at large. In this regard, Prime Minister Prayut invited Chancellor Merkel to visit Thailand during its Chairmanship of ASEAN in 2019.  Thailand also invited Germany to become a Development Partner of ACMECS.

            Both leaders agreed to further strengthen 156 years of close and friendly diplomatic ties between the two countries and sought to further develop bilateral relations into a strategic economic partnership. The two leaders also set a new trade target of 15 billion Euros by 2020 and called for an increase in two-way investment.  In light of Germany’s successful model in developing Industry 4.0,    Thailand looks forward to Germany’s sharing of its experiences on Industry 4.0 in developing Thailand’s 11 target industries in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).

            Prime Minister Prayut requested that Germany help persuade the European Union (EU) to resume negotiations of the Thailand-EU FTA and the ASEAN-EU FTA as well as withdrawing the yellow card given to Thailand for IUU fishing. Both sides also agreed to work more closely in the areas of research and development of technology, vocational education and training as well as capacity building for SMEs and start-ups, in line with the Royal Thai Government’s efforts to enhance Thailand’s competitiveness and overcome the middle-income trap. During the meeting, Prime Minister Prayut also presented key proposals from the Thai private sector to Chancellor Merkel for her consideration.

            Prime Minister Prayut delivered a keynote speech on business and investment opportunities in Thailand for the German private sector at the opening of the “Thai-German Business Forum: Asia-Europe Partnership for the Future.” He stressed the importance of German Industry 4.0 in the development of the EEC in accordance with Thailand 4.0 Policy and pointed to Thailand’s core strength in linking German trade and investment to the ASEAN region, which is home to 650 million people as well as to greater Asia. He also reaffirmed Thailand’s commitment to free trade and investment, as a focus during the ASEAN Chairmanship. The Business Forum was also joined by Mr. Oliver Wittke, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. The Forum was co-organised by the Royal Thai Embassy in Berlin, Board of Investment of Thailand (Frankfurt Office) and the Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business (APA). The Forum was well attended by more than 180 participants from the public and private sectors of Germany.

            Furthermore, Prime Minister Prayut met with high-level executives from the German Railway Industry Association (VDB) and next-generation automotive industry, namely BMW, Daimler and Dräxlmaier Group. He also invited them to expand their investments in the EEC, which is readily supported by infrastructure and multi-modal transportation that will enable the EEC to become a regional connectivity hub for ASEAN and beyond, as it will also be linked to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

            Prime Minister Prayut also visited Fraunhofer IPK Applied Science Institute, which has a strong expertise on R&D and the production process of Industry 4.0, with an aim to learn from German technology and its success in forging partnership between the government, the private sector and academia for the development of technology and innovation. During the Prime Minister’s visit to Germany, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society and Fraunhofer IFF was signed to promote joint R&D in various areas, such as cyber security, information technology, e-government and artificial intelligence (AI). 

            Prime Minister Prayut, Mrs. Naraporn Chan-o-cha, and the accompanying delegation also had an opportunity to meet with the Thai community in Germany, the second largest in Europe, who gave them a warm welcome. He also had a meeting with representatives from the Thai companies currently operating in Germany. At present, there are more than 10 major Thai investors and Thai SMEs successfully doing business in Germany.

            The Prime Minister’s visit marks a new chapter of friendship and fruitful collaborations with Germany and also deepens Thailand’s relations with Europe as a whole, in particular following his visits to the United Kingdom and France in June 2018.