On 7 – 8 February 2019, H.E. Mr. Don Pramudwinai, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand paid an official visit to the Russian Federation at the invitation of H.E. Mr. Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs had a bilateral meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation on 8 February 2019 during which both sides expressed satisfaction with the momentum of cooperation between the two countries, which has been increased significantly over the past 4 years through regular high-level visits and various meetings.

In this connection, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and his counterpart agreed to drive forward bilateral and multilateral issues of common interests. Both sides aimed to increase bilateral trade volume to 10 billion USD by 2020 as agreed by leaders of their respective countries. They also agreed to increase the number of tourists from each other, encourage the use of local currencies for transactions between the two countries and expedite pending agreements, especially those in the areas of education, science and technology, as well as legal affairs, among others.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs invited the Russian business community to invest in Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), particularly in the aviation industry, which the Russian Federation specialises in, as well as consider becoming an ACMECS development partner.

Thailand also urged the Russian side to accelerate the process of FTA negotiations between Thailand and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

After the meeting, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs signed the 4^th Plan of Consultations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (2019 – 2021), which will help to further strengthen relations between the two countries.

Later, the Minister of Foreign Affairs also met with H.E. Mr. Denis Manturov, Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, who is currently the Co-Chair of the Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation between Thailand and Russia.

The Russian side expressed interests to participate in the Railway Infrastructure Development Project as well as the U-Tapao Airport Development Project in Thailand, while the Thai side expressed readiness to host a business forum event for 70 Russian companies, who are scheduled to visit Thailand in 2019.

During the visit to the Russian Federation, the Minister of Foreign Affairs was accompanied by a business delegation comprising representatives from Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor Office, EXIM Bank, as well as exporters of Thai herbs, cosmetics and perfume Industry, who participated in a business networking and matching event with their Russian counterparts.