President Moon Jae-in and Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha held a summit Monday, seeking closer cooperation between the two countries.

At the meeting, held on the sidelines of the ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit in Busan, Moon stressed the importance of South Korean-Thai relations and thanked the Thai prime minister for his support in advancing Korea’s relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

“Thailand is the most important partner in our government’s New Southern Policy. (I) hope for the cooperation between the two countries to expand into diverse areas such as defense and defense industry, water management, science and technology, infrastructure,” Moon said. 

Citing Thailand’s high economic growth rate and the “Thailand 4.0” policy, which includes the Eastern Economic Corridor or EEC development plan, Moon also highlighted the Thai government’s development drive and the opportunity the country represents. The EEC plan is aimed at laying the foundation for greater investment and the development of advanced industries in Thailand.

“I hope to make this an opportunity for sharing ways to increase cooperation and to share vision through the two cooperation framework with other ASEAN leaders,” the Thai prime minister said, referring to the ASEAN-Korea and Mekong-Korea summits.

Thailand is co-chair of both summits.

The Thai leader went on to stress the importance of closer cooperation with Korea in achieving shared goals.

After the summit, the two sides also signed memorandums of understanding on science and technology, Thailand’s EEC and immigration policies.

With the science and technology memorandum, the two countries agreed to expand the scope of cooperation in related fields to include food technology and biotechnology, high-tech areas including satellites, and research on nuclear reactors.

Concerning the EEC, the two countries agreed to exchange information and establish a support system to guide Korean companies that wish to invest in the EEC project. The immigration memorandum calls for increased cooperation to prevent illegal immigration and employment.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)