26 - 27 February 1997
JOINT PRESS RELEASE
Australia's Foreign Minister, Mr Alexander Downer, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade, Mr Tim Fischer, co-hosted with Thailand's Foreign Minister, Mr Prachuab Chaiyasan, and Commerce Minister, Dr Narongchai Akrasanee, the inaugural Ministerial Economic Commission meeting between Thailand and Australia on 26-27 February. Senior business representatives from Thailand and Australia also attended.
The Ministers declared that the Commission had produced concrete results with practical benefits for exporters, consumers and others in both countries. These included breakthroughs in intellectual property, business cooperation, people-to-people links and political support, and significantly better understanding of quarantine approval processes.
Given the potential of the relationship, Ministers agreed to work at doubling trade and investment by the year 2000. Underpinning this commitment, private sector Industry Working Groups are being formed to report to the Australia-Thailand Business Council, and then to the bilateral Joint Trade Committee, to plan for growth and to develop proposals to be put to the two Governments.
In the multilateral area, the two countries are committed to the goal of early further trade liberalisation, including in agriculture, where Australia and Thailand have a strong and successful history of working together in the Cairns group and bilaterally. The Ministers reiterated their commitments to the APEC Bogor targets, which would enhance business opportunities bilaterally and more generally in the region. They foresaw the inevitable development of closer cooperation in AFTA-CER which would expand commercial possibilities and reduce the costs of doing business between Australia and Thailand. Ministers agreed to support Thailand's candidature to the Chairmanship of the WTO's Working Group on Investment.
Mr Prachuab Chaiyasan expressed his strong support for Australia's early inclusion in the Asia-Europe Meeting. "Australia already plays an active role in the economic development of this region, and should be a part of the ASEM process," Mr Prachuab said.
The Australian Ministers supported the ASEAN-Mekong Basin Development Cooperation initiative and looked forward to exploring possible Australian participation in projects under this scheme. They also welcomed Thailand's intention to expand cooperation with Indian Ocean Rim countries and stated their firm support for Thailand's full participation in all Indian Ocean Rim fore.
Dr Narongchai Akrasanee welcomed the signing with Mr Tim Fischer of a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Intellectual Property. "The MOU will assist greatly in protecting and enforcing intellectual property rights between our two countries, and will consequently play an important part in the further development of bilateral trade and investment relation." Dr Narongchai said it would formalise the already close links between Thailand and Australia on intellectual property issues, and will facilitate personnel exchanges and training programs in this area.
Mr Fischer said that many previously unresolved issues had been discussed and resolved in the course of the meeting.
The Thai Ministers registered their views on improved market access for cooked chicken meat, tropical fresh fruit, automotive parts and products and TCF. The Australian Ministers put the case for better market access for beef and live cattle, skim milk powder, wine, fresh fruits, lupine, automotive products and financial services. The Ministers also agreed to reconvene the Thailand-Australia Joint Technical Working Group on Quarantine and Food Inspection as soon as possible, with a view to exploring prospects for improving handling of quarantine issues.
In addition, Ministers confirmed that the two countries would commence a study into cooperation in exporting tropical fruits to third markets, taking advantage of the complementarities of seasonal production, and would also work to define possible areas of cooperation on modified tapioca starch products.
Mr Downer said he was particularly pleased to be able to launch the Thailand Australia Youth Ambassadors' Program at the Commission meeting, as an excellent example of the importance of people-to-people contact in the relationship. "The Program will place young Australian graduates in Thailand on 12 month placements over the next three years, to build partnerships between Thais and Australians at both community and business levels." The Australian Government has contributed $500,000 to the program and is seeking support from Australian and Thai businesses.
Mr Prachuab Chaiyasan and Dr Narongchai Akrasanee met with the Prime Minister of Australia in Canberra. They also had extensive meetings with business groups in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne. Senior business representatives from both countries took the opportunity provided by the Commission meeting and wider program to network and pursue their mutual business interests.
27 February 1997