On 13-14 December 2022, H.E. General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister of Thailand participated in the ASEAN-EU Commemorative Summit on the occasion 45th Anniversary of ASEAN-EU Dialogue Relations in Brussels, Belgium, where the Leaders of ASEAN Member States’ and the EU and EU Member States altogether met for the first time.

The Summit discussed and explored cooperation on various issues focusing on 3 key areas: 1) geopolitical and security challenges; 2) economic recovery, in particular connectivity, trade and global supply chain; and 3) green transition, promoting environmentally friendly and sustainable economic development. In this connection, the ASEAN and EU Leaders adopted the ASEAN- EU Commemorative Summit 2022 Joint Leaders' Statement.

On this occasion, Prime Minister Prayut emphasised Thailand’s economic policy, prioritising economic development in relation to the Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) Economy and invited EU Member States to invest in the development of sustainable infrastructure projects and utilise ASEAN as the production hub for electric vehicles (EVs) and green hydrogen, as well as proposed cooperation in liquefied natural gas (LNG) by establishing a global LNG market to reduce price fluctuations. In addition, the Prime Minister also encourage the EU to facilitate imports of Thailand’s environmentally friendly goods, reiterating that ASEAN and Thailand are working towards raising standards in various relevant aspects which will enable ASEAN to become an integral part of the global supply chain and complement the EU’s manufacturing industries. This will pave way towards a Thai-EU FTA and serve as a process for a future ASEAN-EU FTA. Furthermore, the Prime Minister expressed Thailand’s support for enhanced ASEAN-EU cooperation on digital infrastructure, especially on artificial intelligence (AI), and proposed an ASEAN-EU workshop on AI to promote sharing of knowledge and best on the utilisation of AI technology in relevant sectors and industries. The Prime Minister also reiterated Thailand’s intention to host the world conference on food security and sustainability early next year and invite the EU side to participate.

In addition to the ASEAN-EU Commemorative Summit, Prime Minister Prayut also met with leading companies in the EU during the C-Suite Roundtable Luncheon hosted by the EU-ASEAN Business Council (EU-ABC) to exchange views on how to enhance trade and investment between ASEAN and the EU. The Prime Minister also engaged in bilateral meetings with the President of the European Council, as well as the Prime Ministers of the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Finland, Hungary and Greece, and witnessed the signing of Thailand-EU Partnership and Cooperation Agreement.