PM:Thailand-Malaysia will boost bilateral cooperation

BANGKOK, February 23 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra says that both Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur have agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation in various areas, including arrangements for the next Thai-Malaysian Joint Committee meeting. Yingluck told journalists after concluding her one-day official visit to Malaysia on Monday that she and her Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak have agreed that the two neighbouring countries boost cooperation in the development of economy, basic infrastructure, as well as the well-beings of people in Thailand's southern border region and Malaysia's northern and eastern regions under the framework of the Thailand-Malaysia Committee on Joint Development Strategy for Border Areas (JDS). Yingluck said that two new cross-border bridges across the Sungai Kolok River will also be constructed at Sungai Kolok and Tak Bai Districts in Thailand's southernmost Narathiwat Province, as part of a strategy to promote and maintain stability and prosperity along the Thai-Malaysian border. According to the Thai premier, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur have agreed as well to cooperate in the halal food industry and in matching partners between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in southern Thailand and northern Malaysia. The Pheu Thai premier noted that her Malaysian counterpart has also pledged to support Thailand's moves for long-term peaceful solution in the country's southern border region. (TNA)