PM Lawrence Wong at the Joint Press Conference with Prime Minister of Thailand Anutin Charnvirakul (Nov 2025)

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

A very warm welcome once again to Prime Minister Anutin and members of his delegation. 

Allow me to first convey Singapore’s deepest condolences on the passing of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, The Queen Mother. Her Majesty’s lifelong dedication to the Thai people will be fondly remembered both in Thailand and across the world. 

Prime Minister Anutin’s visit comes at a special time. Well, first of all, we have already spent a lot of time with one another on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit and the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting. But he is here now on his official visit when our two countries are commemorating 60^th anniversary of diplomatic ties. 

Over these 60 years, we have forged a relationship built on trust, respect and deep friendship. Our ties today are deep and resilient, and our bilateral relations are in excellent shape. Our economic links are robust, with growing trade and investment flows. Singapore has consistently been one of the largest foreign investors in Thailand and we were the top foreign investor last year. This reflects our companies’ confidence in Thailand’s economic prospects. Our defence cooperation is longstanding. The Singapore Armed Forces have trained in Thailand for many years, and we thank Thailand for graciously hosting our service personnel. Our people-to-people ties are also equally strong – with frequent exchanges between our students, public officials and communities. 

Earlier this morning, Prime Minister Anutin and I reaffirmed our commitment to build on these strong foundations, and to expand our partnership into new areas of cooperation. And let me cite a few of them. 

First, the digital economy. Singapore and Thailand have been pioneers in this space. The PayNow-PromptPay linkage in 2021 was the world’s first real-time cross-border payment system. And it now paves the way for broader interoperability among digital payment systems in the region. As Chair of the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement or the DEFA Committee, Thailand has been instrumental in steering the DEFA to a substantial conclusion. And Singapore will work closely with Thailand and our fellow ASEAN Member States to ensure that the DEFA is ambitious and high-quality – unlocking the full potential of our region’s digital economy. 

Second, on food security. We have just witnessed a Memorandum of Cooperation on Rice Trade. Singapore imports most of our food sources, while Thailand is an agriculture-exporting nation. So this is a win-win agreement which will ensure stable supply of rice for Singapore, while opening up new market opportunities for Thai producers. And we discussed this morning that we can go even further, expand our food cooperation beyond rice, and look forward to more opportunities on both sides. 

Third, on sustainability and green economy. Singapore and Thailand have signed an Implementation Agreement on Carbon Credits. This can catalyse more green investments while supporting reduced carbon emissions. And I encourage our officials to move quickly to operationalise the Agreement. Singapore also welcomes Thailand’s support, and Prime Minister Anutin himself affirmed that when we met in ASEAN- Thailand's support for Phase 2 of the Lao-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore Power Integration Project. This is the LTMS-PIP. This will bring us closer to our shared goal of realising an ASEAN Power Grid – enhancing regional energy security, and supporting our transition to net zero. And again, this morning we discussed other ideas to work closely together around the green economy.

And fourth, active and healthy ageing. Because both our societies are rapidly ageing, we can learn from each other to help our seniors live well – in good health, with dignity and with purpose. And we are delighted that we just had the MOU just now between SingHealth and the Thai Department of Medical Services to build capacity and promote exchanges in this area. 

Finally, on combatting scams and cybercrime. As our economies and societies go digital, these threats have become a shared concern. And they are a national priority for both countries. And this is why IMDA and Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) have started a partnership to tackle scams. We will continue to strengthen such cooperation – both bilaterally and across ASEAN – to keep our countries and our peoples safe and secure. 

These are just some of the areas that Prime Minister Anutin and I agreed to work together on. They show that while Singapore-Thailand relations are already mature and multi-faceted, there remains tremendous potential for us to do even more together. 

And so, I look forward to working closely with Prime Minister Anutin and his team to strengthen our cooperation and to take the Singapore-Thailand partnership to new heights – for the next sixty years, and well beyond. Thank you very much once again, Prime Minister.