BANGKOK, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and visiting Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced on Thursday deepening collaboration to hasten economic recovery.
The two leaders met during Anwar's two-day official visit, which is part of his introductory tour to the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and his first visit to Thailand since taking office as Malaysia's prime minister late last year.
The economy was a top priority for both leaders, who discussed cooperation in trade, investment and infrastructure in the Thai-Malaysian border areas, as well as in new areas such as digitalization, energy and food safety.
Speaking at a joint press conference, Prayut said both parties agreed to enhance the multifaceted cooperation to boost the economy and work towards a bilateral trade target of 30 billion U.S. dollars by 2025 through increased trade and reduced barriers.
According to the joint press statement, the two leaders exchanged views on common concerns regarding international and regional challenges and reaffirmed their commitment to upholding ASEAN Centrality and collaborating to overcome global geo-political and socio-economic changes.
They further stressed the importance of speeding up ongoing projects, especially those enhancing connectivity and boosting economic activities between the two countries.
Both sides also discussed intensifying efforts to establish linkages between the Special Economic Zones in the border areas to promote long-term investment, and economic and social development. ■