On 5 August 2024, Mrs. Eksiri Pintaruchi, Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs, co-chaired with Dato' Ahmad Rozian bin Abd. Ghani, Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia, in the 9th Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) of the Joint Development Strategy for Border Areas (JDS) and the 15th Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) of the Thailand-Malaysia Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JC) in Kuala Lumpur.

The JDS SOM discussed pending border cooperation and connectivity projects under the JDS Strategic Plan for 2024 - 2027 with the focus on the implementation of 3 areas, which are Enhancing Connectivity, Ensuring Competitiveness, and Enriching Human Capital. The Meeting put an emphasis on the linkages between special economic zones of both countries, especially in rubber and halal industries and the role of private sector as the key player for driving cooperation of the Special Economic Zones (SEZs).

The JC SOM followed up on implementation progress in border trade and investment, agriculture-food-halal industry, tourism, and security, as well as people interaction promotion, boundary mechanisms, including discussions on new cooperation areas, which could complement existing ones, enhance mutual benefits, as well as improve living standards of the peoples of the two countries.