Search
Close this search box.

Advertisement here

Fourth Meeting of the Thai-Turkish Joint Committee on Economic and Technical Cooperation (JETC)

On 26 January 2022, H.E. Don Pramudwinai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, held bilateral talks with H.E. Mr. Mustafa Varank, Minister of Industry and Technology of Türkiye, and, together, co-chaired the Fourth Meeting of the Thai-Turkish Joint Committee on Economic and Technical Cooperation (JETC) in Ankara, Türkiye.

The aforementioned Meeting revitalized cooperation under the JETC framework after 20 years since the Third Meeting of the JETC was held in 2003. Both sides expressed intention to use high-level dialogues to enhance bilateral relations, especially amidst common geopolitical challenges including food and energy security. Both sides also discussed issues of mutual interests such as expediting the negotiations of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Thailand and Türkiye, in order to increase bilateral trade to 2 billion USD, enhancing reciprocal investment especially in Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor, as well as providing potential areas of cooperation including science, technology and innovation, renewable energy, Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) Economic Model, and defense industry.

After the Fourth Meeting of the JETC, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand and Minister of Industry and Technology of Türkiye presided over the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on Development Cooperation between Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA) and Turkish Cooperation & Coordination Agency (TIKA), in order to enhance both sides’ role as partners for development, as well as in trilateral development. Furthermore, both sides signed the Agreed Minutes of the Fourth Meeting of the JETC which will be the guideline for cooperation between Thailand and Türkiye, focusing on development of economic and technical cooperation based on mutual benefits, as well as promoting new potential areas of cooperation such as defense cooperation.

The Agreed Minutes indicated 3 important cooperation areas namely, (1) emphasising and continuing the success of both sides’ agreements, (2) promoting trade and investment relations, especially the negotiations of the FTA between Thailand and Türkiye and promoting trade activities, and (3) promoting economic and technical cooperation in various fields such as science, technology and innovation and education.

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of Thailand