On 13 – 14 March 2023, H.E. Mr. Sarun Charoensuwan, Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Thailand visited Bangladesh and attended the 3rd Bilateral Consultations between Thailand and Bangladesh.

During the meeting, both sides emphasized the cordial relations between the two countries, which celebrated the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2022, and was built upon people-to-people interactions. Currently, trade between both countries is at 1.2 billion USD and has great potential to expand even further. The establishment of a Free Trade Agreement would be instrumental in promoting closer ties in trade and investment. Furthermore, both sides discussed cooperation on defense and combatting transnational crimes, as well as connectivity in all modes of transportation including air, marine and land which will play a crucial role in strengthening cooperation between the two countries. Social and cultural exchanges were also discussed, especially in tourism and medical tourism, with Thailand being a popular destination for Bangladeshis. Both sides agreed to promote tourism through historical Buddhist sites prevalent in both countries. Bangladesh expressed interest in Thailand sharing knowledge on agro-processing and development cooperation to third countries. On multilateral issues, both sides discussed how to strengthen cooperation through BIMSTEC as Thailand will chair the BIMSTEC Summit at the end of 2023. The Thai side hopes that the Prime Minister of Bangladesh will be able to attend the BIMSTEC Summit. In addition, both sides exchanged views on current global issues.

The Permanent Secretary also paid a courtesy call on His Excellency Salman Fazlur Rahman, Industry and Investment Adviser to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. They discussed various aspects of bilateral relations, especially ways and means to promote trade and investment between Thailand and Bangladesh as well as other potential areas of cooperation.

During this trip, executives from 10 reputed Thai companies in various sectors such as energy, industry, chemical products, agro-business, retail and healthcare, accompanied the Thai delegation to explore trade and investment opportunities in Bangladesh and to discuss business opportunities with potential Bangladeshi partners, as well as to learn about Bangladesh’s investment policies and incentives from the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) and Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA).