Indonesia and Thailand agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation during their 8th Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) in Bangkok on November 14.

As said in a statement released by the Indonesian Foreign Ministry, Indonesian Minister Marty Natalegawa and his Thai counterpart Surapong Tovichakcaikul discussed opportunities to improve the two nations’ ties at bilateral, regional and multilateral levels, and agreed to turn the JCM into an annual event.

They also concurred in increasing economic, trade, tourism and investment cooperation by identifying opportunities that can be further explored and facilitating business relations, said the statement.

The two countries have signed a series of important cooperation agreements in the last three years, including memoranda of understanding (MoUs) on educational, legal, anti-corruption and trade cooperation.

Indonesia officially established bilateral ties with Thailand in 1950 and commenced the JCM in 1992.

Two-way trade between Indonesia and Thailand has been significantly increasing over the last decade, up from 3 billion USD in 2002 to 19 billion USD in 2012. Indonesia is now the second largest trade partner of Thailand in the ASEAN region.-VNA