Japan-Thailand Relations
Japan-Thailand Foreign Ministers’ Meeting
October 12, 2023
On October 12, commencing at 3:00 p.m. (5:00 p.m. JST) for approximately 65 minutes, Ms. KAMIKAWA Yoko, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, during her visit to Thailand, held a meeting with H.E. Dr. Parnpree Bahiddha-nukara, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand. The overview is as follows.
- At the outset, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Parnpree congratulated Minister Kamikawa on her appointment as Foreign Minister and welcomed her to Thailand. He expressed his willingness to continue to work closely with her on the two countries’ responses to regional and international affairs and in developing their bilateral relationship.
With regard to the situation in Palestine and Israel, Minister Kamikawa expressed her sincere condolences to the people of Thailand who were killed and wounded and stated that Japan, as a longtime friend of Thailand, stands with Thailand in this extremely difficult situation. She further stated that Japan unequivocally condemns the terror attacks by Hamas and other Palestinian militants and stated that attacks on, and kidnappings of, innocent civilians cannot be justified, and that she would like to cooperate with Thailand in order to urge the parties concerned to calm down the situation as soon as possible.
She also congratulated Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Parnpree on his appointment and expressed her willingness to work closely with Thailand, the ASEAN Country Coordinator for Japan, for the ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit for the 50th Year of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation in December. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Parnpree expressed his appreciation for Minister Kamikawa's remarks on the situation in Palestine and Israel and stressed on the importance of many Thai people being able to return home safely. - (1) Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Parnpree stated that the new administration is promoting economic diplomacy and placing emphasis on new areas such as digital, innovation, GX, and DX, and would like to cooperate extensively with Japan. Minister Kamikawa referred to a wide range of cooperative endeavors, including security and cultural and people-to-people exchanges, and expressed her willingness to promote cooperation with Thailand. She included comments on the approximately 6,000 Japanese companies operating in Thailand and on improving the investment environment based on last year’s “Five-Year Joint Action Plan on Japan - Thailand Strategic Economic Partnership” to strengthen bilateral economic relations between the two countries. In response, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Parnpree expressed gratitude for Japan’s support in investment and human resource development. He stated his willingness to strengthen economic relations and stated that he would like to make further efforts to improve the environment for investment from Japan and to promote also cooperation in the security field.
(2) The two foreign ministers confirmed that Japan and Thailand will work together for the development of ASEAN for the sake of the overall development of the region, and also exchanged views on the international situation, including the situation in Myanmar, to further deepen Japan-ASEAN cooperation.