Foreign Secretary Pushes For Closer Cooperation With Thailand

20th March 2024

David Cameron heads to Thailand, one of the biggest economies in south-east Asia, for his first visit as Foreign Secretary to the Indo-Pacific region.

The Foreign Secretary travels to Thailand on his first visit to the Indo-Pacific region.

He will visit fighter jets built with British components and promote defence exports worth over £300 million.

he will agree a new Strategic Partnership with Prime Minister Srettha and the Foreign Minister, deepening economic and security ties and paving the way to closer cooperation between the UK and Thailand.

The Foreign Secretary will travel to Thailand today (Wednesday 20 March) to drive forward the UK's partnership with the one of the biggest economies in south-east Asia.  

He will look to bolster even closer cooperation through a range of joint priorities including defence, regional security and stability, science and technology, the economy and trade.   

The UK and Thailand's trading relationship is worth around £6 billion annually, and the Foreign Secretary will use his visit to explore ways to strengthen these ties to boost both the UK and Thai economies.

Thailand is an important UK security partner, particularly on advancing peace and reconciliation in Myanmar and protecting international law and regional cooperation. With over half of world trade passing through the Indo-Pacific region, it is also vital to work with Thailand on maritime security to ensure reliable access to the goods the UK wants and needs. 

 The Foreign Secretary, David Cameron said, "South-east Asia is a commercial powerhouse and Thailand is one of the biggest economies of the lot. Working with countries in this region means jobs and growth back here in the UK.   

Thailand is a founding member of ASEAN and an influential player across the Indo-Pacific region. We will continue to work with them to address shared global challenges that affect us all - including the impacts of climate change, rapid technological development, and threats to global health.

The Foreign Secretary will see first-hand the deepening UK-Thailand defence partnership on a visit to a military airbase, where he will showcase UK support for the Gripen aircraft campaign.   

The Gripen is a collaboration between the UK, Sweden and the US, with companies across the UK supplying up to 40% of the components for the aircraft. The success of the campaign would not only strengthen the Royal Thai Air Force but would also see an injection of £350 million into the UK economy, creating and supporting jobs from Bournemouth to Manchester.  

Three years ago, the UK delivered almost half a million COVID vaccines to Thailand. Since then, UK and Thai researchers have boosted efforts to deliver fair and timely access to affordable and high-quality vaccines through the recently announced UK-South East Asia Vaccine Manufacturing Research Hub.

The Foreign Secretary will meet researchers from this partnership and other inventors, working on challenges from AI to engineering biology, on a visit to a university. There, he will highlight the ambition of the International Science Partnership Fund worth £337 million globally to enable scientific collaboration between UK and Thai researchers and innovators to solve shared global challenges and foster prosperity. Key projects include tackling some of the world’s deadliest diseases, building food security networks and developing clean energy systems.

He will also announce the launch of a UK Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions (UK PACT) Thailand Country Fund worth up to £6 million to boost green growth. This will support sustainable transport, green finance and carbon pricing in Thailand.

David Cameron will sign the UK-Thailand Strategic Partnership Roadmap to strengthen the relationship on defence, climate and energy, trade and investment, agriculture, digital and tech, health and education ahead of next year’s 170-year anniversary of UK-Thai diplomatic relations.  

Following his visit to Thailand, the Foreign Secretary will head to Australia for the annual Australia-UK Minister Consultations (AUKMIN).