Thailand, Singapore to push up Economic Cooperation

Thailand and Singapore are scheduled to sign five memorandums of understanding (MoUs) on intellectual property, agriculture and sustainable businesses this week, according to Trade Negotiations Department Director-General Auramon Supthaweethum.

The official said that the MoUs will be signed on October 13 by related agencies on the sidelines of the sixth ministerial meeting of the Singapore - Thailand Enhanced Economic Relationship (STEER) in Bangkok.

Thai Minister of Commerce Jurin Laksanawisit and Singaporean Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng are scheduled to co-chair the meeting, which is aimed at accelerating cooperation on innovative agriculture, digital economy, investment, tourism and intellectual property, the media reported.

Singapore is Thailand's fourth largest trading partner in the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) and the country’s eighth largest trading partner in the world.

Bilateral trade between the two countries amounted to 12.9 billion USD in the first eight months of this year, an increase of 20.3%  against the same period last year. Of the total, Thai exports accounted for 7.18 billion USD, up 23.7% year-on-year, while its imports from Singapore were worth 5.67 billion USD, an increase of 16.2%.

Thailand's direct investment in Singapore during the 2005-2021 period hit 146 billion USD, while investment in 2021 alone reached 7.73 billion USD. Singapore's direct investment in Thailand in the period totalled 86.1 billion USD, with an investment value of 5.41 billion USD in 2021./.