Anutin’s Malaysia visit aims to boost trade, investment and southern border peace

Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul is making an official visit to Malaysia from July 9-10 at the invitation of Dato’ Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia.

The visit aims to strengthen bilateral relations and push forward concrete cooperation in the economy, security and border-area development.

Anutin is accompanied by a high-level ministerial delegation, including Ekniti Nitithanprapas, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister; Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister; Suriya Juangroongruangkit, Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister; Surasak Phancharoenworakul, Tourism and Sports Minister; Jeseth Thaiseth, Deputy Interior Minister; and Wan Muhamad Noor Matha, chairman of the Prime Minister’s advisory team.

This marks Anutin’s second official visit to an ASEAN member state after assuming office as Prime Minister for a second term, following his earlier visit to Vietnam.

The trip is intended to elevate cooperation across several areas, including trade, investment, agriculture, tourism and border economic development, with the goal of creating economic opportunities and improving the quality of life of people in both countries.

The Thai and Malaysian leaders are scheduled to hold a full-delegation meeting on key security issues, particularly cooperation to address the situation in Thailand’s southern border provinces and support the peace process.

They will also discuss efforts to combat transnational crime, facilitate trade, strengthen energy cooperation and improve disaster management.

In addition, the two Prime Ministers will jointly preside over the opening ceremony of the Thai-Malaysian border crossing and the road linking the new Sadao Customs Checkpoint in Sadao district, Songkhla province, with the Bukit Kayu Hitam checkpoint in Kedah state.

The project has been jointly promoted by the two governments since 2019 to enhance cross-border trade capacity and logistics connectivity.

The Thai government expects the new checkpoint to improve goods transport efficiency and link trade routes from southern Thailand to Mae Sot district in Tak province, Mae Sai district in Chiang Rai province and onwards to southern China.

The development is expected to give Thailand another important international trade gateway, helping expand exports, attract investment and generate long-term economic income.