Singapore and Thailand marked 60 years of diplomatic relations with the signing of five major Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) on 14 March. The MOUs were signed in the presence of Singapore’s Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng and Thailand’s Minister of Commerce Pichai Naripthaphan during the 7th Singapore-Thailand Enhanced Economic Relationship (STEER) Ministerial Meeting.
MOUs include various sectors aimed at deepening economic relations and cover areas of consumer protection, cross border e-commerce, fintech and trade facilitation in the meat sector. High-profile collaborations involve the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) entering into collaboration with Thailand’s Office of Consumer Protection and Shopee (Thailand) collaborating with Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce to further cross border e-commerce.
These agreements are based on strong business ties and also demonstrate a willingness to support long term mutual development. The sharing of a 2025-2027 intellectual property workplan between Thailand and Singapore also indicates ongoing cooperation within this area.
In 2024, Singapore was Thailand’s biggest source of foreign direct investment and bilateral trade amounted to a whopping S$44.5 billion. Both nations also looked into new possibilities in the fields of electric vehicles, fintech and MedTech highlighting their complementary strengths.
While both nations celebrate this achievement, the attention is on further building partnerships for the next 60 years of prosperity.
