Bangkok (VNA) – The Thai government has reiterated its plan to build a bridge across the Kolok River in Sungai Kolok district to boost border trade and tourism ties with Malaysia.

Ratchada Thanadirek, Deputy Spokesperson for the Thai Prime Minister's Office, said the two countries have agreed to tighten their relations through the friendship bridge to achieve the bilateral trade target of 30 billion USD by 2025.

In the recent 14th Meeting of the Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JC) and the 5th Ministerial Meeting of the Committee on Joint Development Strategy for Border Areas (JDS) in Bangkok, co-chaired by Thailand's Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai and his Malaysian counterpart Saifuddin Abdullah, the two sides agreed to step up the development of infrastructure along their shared border.

The two countries also expressed their hope to speed up the construction of a road connecting the integrated customs, immigration and quarantine complexes of Bukit Kayu Hitam and Sadao, which are very important to improving road and trade links on the Malaysia - Thailand border.

The bridge across the Kolok River will be the second in Sungai Kolok, running to Rantau Panjang town of Kelantan, Malaysia.

The two countries also held discussions on the construction of the Pengkalan Kubor-Tak Bai bridge, which is still in the process of area assessment and topographic survey./.
VNA