LISBON: Thailand and Portugal are aiming to strengthen ties, especially in trade, investment, education and digital transition.
After a bilateral meeting with Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai, Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva said many Thai investors have recently invested in Portugal in the auto parts, tourism and food industries.
Although the first 10 months of 2019 saw a 37% increase in bilateral trade over the same period last year, "There is still a lot of room for improvement," the minister said adding that the volume is still very low.
In 2018, bilateral trade was valued at US$238.5 million (about 7.2 billion baht) with Thailand having a trade surplus of $99.5 million. In the first 10 months of this year, bilateral trade stood at $270 million with a $131 million surplus for Thailand.
In response, Mr Don said: "In the year ahead, those figures will shoot up.
"We are looking forward to more, and it's not only one-way traffic," he said.
Portuguese officials and investors have been invited to come to Thailand to get to know more about current developments in Thailand, including its mega-projects, Mr Don said, giving the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) as an example.
Mr Augusto said that besides cooperation in the digital economy, both sides have discussed measures to avoid double taxation for entrepreneurs.
The ministers also discussed better visa facilitation, healthcare and public services for Thai workers in Portugal.
Mr Augusto said that Portugal appreciates multi-level economic ties with Thailand both as separate nations and members of the European Union and Asean, respectively.
Meanwhile, Mr Don said both countries would like to see an increase in tourist numbers. About 50,000 Portuguese visited Thailand last year while 12,000 Thais visited Portugal.
Thailand and Portugal are also looking at promoting trilateral cooperation with third countries in different areas, Mr Don said.
Thailand and Portugal celebrated the 500th Anniversary of Thai-Portuguese diplomatic ties in 2011 as the Portuguese were the first Europeans to have contact with Thais during the Ayutthaya period.
In 2012, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn presided over and inaugurated the Thai Pavilion (Sala Thai), which was a gift from the government and people of Thailand to the government and people of Portugal in commemoration of the anniversary.
During his Dec 17-19 visit to Lisbon, Mr Don also met about 40 members of the Thai community in Portugal and visited a number of research institutions to discuss possible future cooperation in areas of Portuguese expertise.
Among the facilities Mr Don paid a visit to were the Champalimoud Foundation, which is a leading world-class institute in medical science, and the Technical Institute at the University of Lisbon, which is famous for its research in artificial intelligence and ocean robotics.