Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, met with Thailand’s Prime Minister and Minister of Finance on October 17, 2023, at the Diaoyutai Guest House in Beijing, People’s Republic of China.
He and Sheikh are both in Beijing for the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.
The Thai Prime Minister asked Russia’s President to increase investment in Thailand in order to improve trade between the two countries in agriculture. Both sides agreed that it should be easier to do business.
She says that Putin is happy that Thailand has increased the number of days that Russian tourists can stay from 30 to 90. This will help the economy, she says. Thailand has had more than a million people from Russia.
“The Russian president also likes Phuket. I’ve heard that he visits often. He is welcome to come to Thailand next year. He smiled and said, “Khob Khun Krab” in Thai, which means “thank you.” The PM said, “The fact that he can speak Thai shows that he is familiar with it because of past leaders and many other things that led to good relationships.”
TASS says that the Russian president told the Thai prime minister that Russia would do its best to improve relations with Thailand and that he thought the two economies would trade more.
“As for us, we will do everything we can to strengthen our ties and make a big difference in the progress of both our countries,” Putin told Thai Prime Minister Srettha.
“Unfortunately, bilateral trade went down a bit last year because of the unstable situation in the world,” the Russian leader said, adding that he hoped the joint committee on bilateral economic cooperation could change this.
Putin said that the fact that Russia and Thailand still work together on social issues was a good sign. He also heard about the rising number of tourists. He also said that the next two years will be a time for culture exchange and travel between the two countries.
“We have also been working together closely on the international level,” Putin said in the end.
