Prayut discusses post-Covid plans with Indonesian, Malaysian counterparts

The main subject on the agenda was dealing with the Covid-19 fallout. Meanwhile, Thailand said it was reinforcing the transformation of tourism, agriculture and halal industries in a bid to boost trade and investment among the three members.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha joined the IMT-GT Summit meeting through a virtual platform. The meeting was chaired by Malaysia Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri bin Yaakob, with the attendances of Indonesia President Joko Widodo, Secretary-General of Asean Dato Lim Jock Hoi and Ahmed M. Saeed, Vice President for East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific of Asian Development Bank.

During the meeting, the Malaysian Prime Minister, as chairman of the summit, said that he was confident that the members will be able to carry out the development of the IMT-GT strategies with potential under the pandemic situation. He was also confident that this sub-regional cooperation will benefit all parties, while climate change must also be taken into account.

Indonesia President proposed that infrastructure development should be accelerated, such as road and port development. He also said that the sub-region should develop high-level and sustainable infrastructure, especially digital agriculture, and accelerate the transition to the digital economy.

As for the Thai Prime Minister, Prayut proposed the meeting to transform the three strong industries which are the tourism, agricultural and halal industries.

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He also proposed three factors to support the key industries of IMT-GT. The first factor is the seamless communication network which should be included in Physical Connectivity Projects (PCPs). The regulatory linkage is a second factor where there should be an acceleration in the signing of a framework for cooperation on Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ). The third factor is to enhance environmental sustainability by developing projects under environmental cooperation which corresponds to Thailand's Bio, Circular and Green (BCG) economic model.
 
Prayut emphasised that the next phase of the IMT-GT will not only approach the vision of 2036 and the development goals of the members. But it must be in line with the goals of the United Nations SDGs which cover economic, social and environmental dimensions, said the Thai premier.