Thailand and Singapore signed five memorandums of understanding (MoUs) on Wednesday on intellectual property, agriculture and sustainable businesses, and agreed to jointly invest in cruise ports for tourism.
Speaking after the sixth ministerial meeting of the Singapore-Thailand Enhanced Economic Relationship in Bangkok, Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said to mark the 20th anniversary of the relationship, the two sides agreed to ramp up bilateral trade and investment focusing largely on agricultural products, the digital economy, investment, export and intellectual property cooperation.
Singapore also called for support for its investment in energy, electric vehicles, smart city businesses and carbon credit trading, he said. Singapore also wants Thailand to help establish joint working panels on cruise investment and intellectual property.
According to Mr Jurin, Thailand asked Singapore to help speed up the registration process for Thai organic hens and quail's eggs to allow greater export opportunities for such products to Singapore.
In addition, Thailand also called on Singapore to expedite its certification procedures for Thai egg farms for export which have already passed the certification process by Thailand's Livestock Development Department.
On the investment front, Mr Jurin said Thailand also called on Singapore to expand its investment in the Eastern Economic Corridor and invited Singapore to participate in key exhibitions to be held in 2023 such as Bangkok International Fashion Fair, Bangkok Gems & Jewelry Fair and food fairs.
According to Mr Jurin, the Intellectual Property Department of Thailand and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore signed an MoU on cooperation.
In addition, the Swine Producers and Processors for Exporting Association of Thailand is slated to sign an MoU with the Meat Traders Association of Singapore on pork, while the Thai Broiler Processing Exporters Association will sign a cooperation deal on poultry with the Meat Traders Association of Singapore.
In terms of agriculture, Kaset Thai International Sugar Corporation Plc and Evercomm and Bureau Veritas of Singapore are set to sign an MoU, while PTT Oil and Retail Plc is set to sign an MoU with Retail Business Plc and Sleek EV Co of Singapore.
In addition, he said Thailand and Singapore agreed to expand joint investment in cruise ports for tourism, with the Thai side pledging to ask the Tourism and Sports Ministry to consult with representatives from Singapore to establish a working panel to promote the cruise port investment and facilitate tourism between the two countries.
On the digital front, Thailand and Singapore also agreed to facilitate electronic trade and protect consumers of the two nations on online platforms.
Singapore is Thailand's fourth-largest trading partner in Asean and eighth-largest trading partner globally.
In the first eight months of 2022, bilateral trade amounted to US$12.9 billion, up 20.3% from the same period last year.
Of the total, exports accounted for $7.18 billion, up 23.7% year-on-year, with imports worth $5.67 billion, an increase of 16.2%.
