Thailand signs partnership and cooperation deal with the EU
Thailand has signed a comprehensive partnership and cooperation agreement (PCA) with the European Union (EU).
The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the Asean-EU Commemorative Summit in Brussels.
Leaders from 10 member countries of Asean, including Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, on Wednesday met with their EU counterparts at the conference held to celebrate 45 years of diplomatic relations between the two regional groupings.
On the same day, Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Don Pramudwinai signed the draft Thai-EU PCA with Czech Republic’s Prime Minister Petr Fiala, in his capacity as president of the Council of the European Union, and Josep Borrell Fontelles, vice president of the European Commission and high representative of the EU for foreign affairs and security policy.
General Prayut, European Council president Charles Michel, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also attended the event as witnesses.
The PCA signing ceremony marked an important milestone in the 44 year-long diplomatic relationship between Thailand and the EU, which began when the first European Community mission in Southeast Asia was founded in Bangkok in 1978, the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on its website on Thursday.
“The PCA opens up a new era in Thailand-EU relations, reinvigorating and deepening the partnership on all fronts,” the ministry said in its press release.
The PCA covers various cooperation areas, including political, economic, social and environment. “It provides a forward-looking framework for advancing cooperation in a more concrete and orderly manner,” the ministry said.
Thailand is expected to benefit from knowledge-sharing sessions, policy consultations, capacity-building activities as well as the exchange of experts.
According to the ministry, the PCA can also be instrumental for Thailand in bringing about better management and higher standards. The cooperation under the PCA will also serve as a basis for and create an environment conducive to the resumption of Thai-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations.
