Anutin meets Macron to advance Thai-French strategic partnership

French President Emmanuel Macron hosted a dinner for Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on Monday, May 25, 2026, at 8.30pm local time in France, which is five hours behind Thailand, at the Élysée Palace in Paris.

After the meeting, Government Spokeswoman Rachada Dhnadirek outlined the key issues discussed.

1. Promoting trade and investment

The French president and the Thai prime minister agreed to work together to further increase trade and investment between the two countries, especially in high-value industries such as alternative energy, space and aviation, smart power transmission, and infrastructure for AI and data centres — future industries in which French private-sector companies have strong expertise and high potential.

Following discussions with MEDEF International and leading French private companies, several firms expressed interest in investing or expanding their investments in Thailand. France also praised investment by Thai private-sector companies in France and said it wanted to see more Thai investment in the country.

2. Thai-EU FTA negotiations

The Thailand-European Union Free Trade Agreement is one of the Thai government’s key policies, with the government determined to conclude negotiations within this year.

The prime minister thanked France for its continued support for the negotiation process, expressing confidence that the agreement would be an important turning point in creating economic opportunities for both countries.

3. Expanding security cooperation into cyber security

As both countries are part of the Cobra Gold military exercise, Thailand and France will expand cooperation on security and cyber security.

This aligns with the Thai government’s approach of seeking global cooperation to suppress scammers and online threats, which has led to successful prosecutions, repatriation of suspects, arrests and the seizure of large amounts of illegal assets.

4. Thailand-Cambodia situation and Myanmar

The prime minister reaffirmed that Thailand firmly adheres to the principles of sovereignty, peace and international law.

He said the decision to cancel MOU 44 was made because there had been no progress for almost 25 years. Thailand has therefore chosen to use international law, namely UNCLOS, while maintaining dialogue between the two countries.

On land-border issues, Thailand will proceed in line with the joint statement signed late last year, while Cambodia must also prove its sincerity, he said.

On this occasion, both sides agreed to move forward with the Joint Action Plan to strengthen the Thai-French Partnership 2026-2028, which marks an important step towards upgrading bilateral relations between Thailand and France into a strategic partnership.

French participants included Jean-Noël Barrot, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs; Éléonore Caroit, Minister Delegate for Francophonie and International Partnerships; Benoît Guidée, Director for Asia and Oceania; Jean-Claude Poimboeuf, French Ambassador to Thailand; Emmanuel Bonne, diplomatic adviser to the French president; Julie Le Saos, adviser for Asian affairs; Jean-Noël Ladois, adviser for international communications; Victoire Vandeville, adviser for international economic affairs; and General Vincent Giraud, military adviser to the French president.