On 13 January 2021, H.E. Mr. HAGIUDA Koichi, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan (METI), paid a courtesy call on H.E. General Prayut Chan-O-Cha, Prime Minister of Thailand, at the Government House on the occasion of his visit to Thailand to enhance economic relations between Thailand and Japan. Thailand is among the first group of countries that the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry visited after assuming his office.

Prime Minister Prayut welcomed the close economic relations between Thailand and Japan in all dimensions and expressed readiness to cooperate with Japan under Thailand’s APEC host. Both sides agreed to work together on synergizing Thailand’s Bio-Circular-Green Economy (BCG) Model and Japan’s Green Growth Strategy at the bilateral and multilateral levels for concrete outcomes.

Prime Minister Prayut expressed appreciation for Japan’s confidence in investing in Thailand, as reflected from Japan being the leading investor in Thailand for many decades. In this regard, Prime Minister Prayut invited the Japanese private sector to expand investment in Thailand’s targeted industries, such as electric vehicle and medical industries, particularly in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC). The Prime Minister also welcomed Japan’s “Asia-Japan Investing for the Future” Initiative, announced by the Minister of Economy, Trade and Investment during this visit to the Southeast Asian region and expressed Thailand’s readiness to support co-creation between Thailand-Japan private sectors for the future oriented investment, particularly in strengthening the supply chain, green economy, connectivity and human resource development, which will benefit the economic and social developments of both countries and the region at large.

Both sides also exchanged views on trade cooperation, regional and international economic partnership agreements such as Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), as well as industrial and energy cooperation.