Singapore and Thailand mark 60 years of diplomatic ties
Singapore and Thailand celebrate the 60th anniversary of their diplomatic relations this year. To honour this milestone, the Singaporean Embassy has unveiled a logo, which emerged as the winner of a competition held last year in collaboration with the foreign ministries of both nations and the Royal Thai Embassy in Singapore.
During the logo launch event at Siam Paragon, Catherine Wong Siow Ping, Singapore’s Ambassador to Thailand, highlighted that diplomatic ties between the two countries were established on September 20, 1965. She noted that the relationship has since grown to encompass a wide range of areas, including politics, economics, defence, and education.
In 2021, the two countries pioneered the world’s first real-time payment system linkage between Singapore’s PayNow and Thailand’s PromptPay. The following year, the Laos-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore-Power Integration Project was initiated to facilitate multilateral cross-border trade for renewable energy.
As of 2023, Singapore and Thailand ranked as each other’s ninth-largest trading partners. Singapore has consistently been one of Thailand’s top five sources of foreign direct investment, and last year, it was the leading foreign investor in Thailand, signalling ongoing confidence in the Thai market.
The ambassador also mentioned that during Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s official visit last November, discussions were held on new cooperation areas, including food and energy security and carbon credit trade. Singapore is also looking forward to Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s introductory visit this year.
Lalivan Karnchanachari, vice minister of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, remarked that the relationship between Thailand and Singapore dates back long before formal diplomatic ties. In 1871, King Rama V visited Singapore, and as a gesture of goodwill, gifted a bronze elephant, which remains in front of the Old Parliament House in Singapore, reported Bangkok Post.
On a regional scale, both countries have been like-minded partners and founding members of ASEAN, playing a crucial role in maintaining regional peace and fostering prosperity.
“A shared vision of regionalism has driven the growth of ASEAN into an organisation that is well recognised worldwide and expanded ASEAN’s economy into one of the largest economies in the world.”
Latest Thailand News
