Thailand, Malaysia to speed up border infrastructure improvement

• Aug 11, 2022

Thailand and Malaysia have agreed to expedite the construction of land transport links at their border, to foster trade between the two countries.

They announced agreement on Thursday, following the 14th meeting of the Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation at the Foreign Ministry in Bangkok on Wednesday.

It was the first meeting of the joint commission since 2015.

They plan to accelerate road alignment between border checkpoints in Sadao district of Songkhla and Bukit Kayu Hitam in Perlis state of Malaysia, according to the Thai Foreign Ministry’s statement.

Other projects include a bridge over the Kolok River, between Sangai Kolok district in Narathiwat and Rantau Panjang in Kelantan state, and another bridge between Narathiwat’s Tak Bai district and Pengkalan Kubor in Kelantan.

“It is important to have good infrastructure at the border areas to support the needs of the people and business community,” Bernama news agency quoted Malaysian Foreign Minister Ismail Yokob as saying.

Thailand and Malaysia also targeted bilateral trade to reach US$30 billion by 2025, a jump from $23 billion last year and explored the possibility of cooperation between the rubber cities in Kedan and Songkhla.

Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2366468/thailand-malaysia-to-speed-up-border-infrastructure-improvement