PUTRAJAYA: Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, on a two-day visit to Malaysia, received an official welcome at the Perdana Putra Complex today.
Her arrival was welcomed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at 9am today.
Present to also welcome Paetongtarn were both Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, cabinet members, as well as senior government officials.
Paetongtarn then inspected a guard of honour mounted by three officers and 102 members of the First Battalion of the Royal Malay Regiment.
This is her first official visit to Malaysia since assuming office in August this year.
Wisma Putra yesterday said both Anwar and Paetongtarn will hold a bilateral meeting, with discussions expected to assess the progress of bilateral relations, explore potential new areas of cooperation between the two neighbouring countries and exchange views on regional and international issues of mutual interest.
The two leaders will also witness the exchange of two Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) on Culture, Arts and Heritage Cooperation as well as on Rubber Industry Development and Economic Cooperation.
Thailand remains a key trading partner for Malaysia, ranking as its sixth-largest globally and second-largest within Asean in 2023, with bilateral trade valued at US$24.83 billion (RM113.16 billion).
For the period between January and October this year, trade between the two nations reached US$20.75 billion (RM95.50 billion), surpassing the US$20.69 billion (RM94.37 billion) recorded in the same period last year.