Thailand, Malaysia to strengthen cooperation on defence industry and border security - Thai acting PM Prawit

Thailand and Malaysia will strengthen cooperation on defence industry as well as border security, said Thai acting Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan.

He said Malaysian Senior Minister of Defence Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein's visit was a good opportunity to advance cooperation between the two countries in the area of defence.

"The exchange of visits at all commander levels will also strengthen cooperation in all dimensions, especially on border cooperation.

"Both parties (Thailand and Malaysia) came to terms to further reinforce cooperation on border security under the three meeting frameworks, namely, General Border Committee (GBC), High Level Committee (HLC), and Regional Border Committee (RBC)" he said in a statement.

On Tuesday, Prawit, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister, received a courtesy call from Hishammuddin at the Government House.

Meanwhile, Prawit said Thailand and Malaysia agreed to push forward infrastructure projects at the Thai-Malaysian borders.

"Transportation routes will be concretely developed, while other pending projects, such as construction of road linking customs checkpoints of the two countries, and construction of new bridges crossing Golok River, will be pushed forward," he said.

In February, Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and his Thai counterpart Prayuth agreed that both countries should speed up negotiations for the implementation of infrastructure projects at the borders.

The projects include the construction of the Rantau Panjang - Sungai Golok Bridge; Pengkalan Kubor - Tak Bai Bridge; and the road alignment connecting the Bukit Kayu Hitam Immigration, Customs, Quarantine and Security (ICQS) Complex and the new Sadao Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) Complex in Songkhla.

Meanwhile, Prawit said Malaysia and Thailand hope to see the the peace talks in southern Thailand would end the conflict and bring peace to the people along the borders.

At present, former national police chief Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Mohd Noor, who represents the Malaysian government, is acting as the facilitator for the peace talks in southern Thailand.

-- BERNAMA