The Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Thailand and his Myanmar counterpart reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthening bilateral ties as Natural Strategic Partners and discussed ways to enhance cooperation in a broad range of areas of mutual interest, such as addressing cross-border issues, promoting bilateral trade and investment, and enhancing cooperation on sustainable development.

On 22 January 2021, H.E. Mr. Thani Thongphakdi, Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Thailand, held a virtual introductory meeting with H.E. U Chan Aye, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.

In line with the outcome of the telephone conversation between the Prime Minister of Thailand and the State Counsellor of Myanmar in November last year, the two Permanent Secretaries agreed on the importance of closer cooperation on border security, with a view to tackling the ongoing cross-border issues including transboundary haze, human trafficking, people smuggling, narcotic drugs and other transnational organised crimes.

The two sides agreed to further strengthen their collaborations in combating COVID-19 and overcoming socio-economic impacts caused by the pandemic in order to build back better together. The Myanmar Permanent Secretary expressed his appreciation to the Thai Government for the support and contributions to Myanmar’s efforts to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. The Thai Permanent Secretary affirmed Thailand’s commitment to protecting the health and safety of Myanmar workers in Thailand.

The two sides attached importance to stepping up bilateral economic cooperation. The Thai Permanent Secretary highlighted the positive contribution of Thai private sector to the sustainable development of Myanmar and welcomed the support of the Myanmar Government for Thai companies. Both sides also discussed closer financial cooperation and the possibility of re-opening and upgrading existing border checkpoints in order to stimulate border trade and uplift the livelihood of people in the border areas.

Both sides discussed development cooperation, and the Thai Permanent Secretary reaffirmed Thailand’s commitment to supporting Myanmar through sustainable development projects, including in the Rakhine State.