The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand, Mr. Virasakdi Futrakul, and the Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Chile, Mr. Alberto Van Klaveren, on 26 August 2009 jointly chaired the Second Political Consultations Meeting between Thailand and Chile in Bangkok.
Both sides acknowledged the longstanding close ties and partnership between Thailand and Chile. They noted the steady growing bilateral trade (580 million USD in 2008, over 100% accumulative growth from 2005) and Chile has become Thailand’s fourth largest trade partner in Latin America. They also noted that there is ample room for trade expansion and underscored how the bilateral Free Trade Agreement can significantly contribute to the achievement of this end. They reaffirmed the commitments to further enhance and strengthen bilateral economic ties in a comprehensive manner.
Both sides welcomed the great strides towards further cooperation on a wide range of issues, such as agriculture and fisheries, science and technology, alternative energy, housing, tourism, cooperation between Navy and Police Forces, as well as technical and academic exchanges. The two sides acknowledged each other’s expertise and noted that both sides can learn and benefit from each other. They also expressed their common desire to enhance cooperation through both the existing and future frameworks. Both sides also welcomed the conclusion of the Agreement of Technical Cooperation on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and hope the agreement will be signed in the very near future.
Both sides also recognized the significance of promoting people-to-people contact, as reflected in their active discussions on the enhancement of links in air transportation, tourism, and culture. They shared the vision that people-to-people contact can reinforce mutual understanding and stimulate future cooperation in all areas at all level and are committed to work together to promote such cooperation.
Both sides stressed the importance of extensive cooperation within APEC, FEALAC, OAS, and the UN. They also took note with appreciation of the continuous cordial mutual supports in the International Organizations’ elections and pledge to continue such tradition of excellent cooperation. The Thai side expressed interest in the development of the Trans-pacific Economic Partnership Agreement (P4), of which Chile is a founding member. Chile recognized Thailand’s active role in the ASEAN and reaffirmed the interest in establishing closer relationship with ASEAN.
The Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Chile also invited the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand to co-chair the Third Political Consultations Meeting in Santiago, Republic of Chile.
The Meeting was held in the atmosphere of friendship and frankness.
For further information, please contact the Press Division, Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tel.02-6435170, Fax.02-6435169, E-mail: div0704@mfa.go.th