According to a number of Thai media sources, on April 16, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Lacson arrived in Thailand and will pay an official visit to Thailand from April 16 to 18, 2024, which is also the first visit to Thailand by New Zealand Prime Minister in 11 years.
At 10:00 a.m. on April 17, Thai Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Saita received New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Lacson at the government building, and the two sides first inspected the honor guard in front of the government building Thai Khu Fah, and then entered the government building to hold talks and discuss matters related to the draft joint statement.
It is understood that the draft statement includes announcing the upgrading of bilateral relations to a strategic partnership by 2026, announcing the cooperation plan between Thailand and New Zealand in the field of defense, announcing the goal of tripling the trade volume between the two countries by 2045, promoting cooperation in the field of renewable energy to reduce the use of fossil energy and combat climate change, accelerating discussions on cooperation agreements in the field of culture, strengthening cooperation between the two countries in the fields of education and tourism to promote people-to-people relations between the two countries, strengthening regional cooperation, and discussing various regional and international issues.
Then, at 11:40 a.m. on the same day, witnessed by Prime Minister Saita and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Lacson, the two countries officially signed two agreements, namely the educational cooperation agreement signed by the Office of the Foundation Council of Thailand and Massey University in New Zealand, and the agreement signed by Thai Aerospace Industries Corporation and New Zealand NZSkydive Limited in the field of procurement, warranty and maintenance.
After the talks, the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Thailand posted through his personal social account that Thailand and New Zealand have very close friendship and relations, and will further strengthen cooperation in the future to achieve the goal of upgrading relations between the two countries by 2026, so as to promote the future peace and prosperity of the two countries. Finally, I would like to thank New Zealand for its support in Thailand's accession to the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).