Minister Muto Takes Business Trip to Malaysia and the Kingdom of Thailand

1. First Energy and Industry Dialogue (Kingdom of Thailand)

Minister Muto and H.E. Pichai Chunhavajira, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the Kingdom of Thailand (co-chair), and H.E. Akanat Promphan, Minister of Industry, launched and held the First Energy and Industry Dialogue to discuss a wide range of topics in both countries at the ministerial level, including improving industrial competitiveness. In this dialogue, the two sides discussed ways to strengthen the production and export competitiveness of the automotive and other manufacturing industries and issued a joint statement outlining specific directions for cooperation on (1) Promotion of Multi-Pathway, (2) Promotion of Circular Economy, and (3) Maintaining and Developing a Competitive supply chains and Human Resources.

• Joint Statement of the Energy and Industry Dialogue(PDF:169KB)

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2. Ceremony to Announce Memorandums of Understanding for Cooperation (Kingdom of Thailand)

On the occasion of the First Energy and Industry Dialogue, Minister Muto, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Pichai and Minister of Industry Akanat witnessed the announcement of nine memorandums of understanding (MOUs) for cooperation between Japanese and Thai companies and organizations in a wide range of industries, including automobiles and energy.

• Outline of the matters(PDF:3,031KB)

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3. Roundtable for Producing the Next Generation Human Resources for the Automotive Industry in Japan and Thailand

In order to explore the possibility of further deepening the Japan-Thailand relationship through the production of next-generation human resources in the automotive field, a roundtable was held on the themes of (1) strategies for producing next-generation human resources who will lead the automotive industry and (2) producing high-level industrial human resources in Japan and Thailand (industry-government-academia collaboration). In his opening remarks, Minister Muto expressed his expectations for accelerating the production of the next generation of human resources, based on the fact that Automotive Industry in Japan has built a strong supply chain and deepened cooperation within the Kingdom of Thailand through the sharing of technology and knowledge for over 60 years.

4. Bilateral Meetings

(1) Meeting with Malaysian Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Tengk Zafrul Aziz

Minister Muto and Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Tengk Zafrul Aziz of Malaysia, the chair of this year's ASEAN-Japan Economic Ministerial Meeting, confirmed that the two countries will deepen bilateral and Japan-ASEAN cooperation in areas such as AI and next-generation automobiles, as well as cooperation in Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC), and exchanged views on how to respond to the current international economic environment.

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(2) Meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Energy Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand Pirapan Salirathavibhaga

Minister Muto and Deputy Prime Minister Pirapan discussed cooperation in the energy sector, including LNG, CCUS, hydrogen and biofuels. They also confirmed that both countries will strengthen their efforts toward the AZEC　Ministerial Meeting and Leaders Meeting. In addition, they discussed public-private partnerships such as the launch of the AZEC-SAVE (Smart and Advanced Value-chain for Environment) platform by JBIC, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce in Thailand, the Embassy of Japan, and others.

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5. Opinion Exchange with Local Japanese Companies

Minister Muto exchanged opinions with Japanese companies operating in both Malaysia and Thailand. They exchanged opinions on the current status of and challenges facing local businesses and the impact of the increasing uncertainty in the current international economic environment on business in both countries.

Divisions in Charge

• For the entire business trip

  Asia and Pacific Division, Trade Policy Bureau

• For AZEC Ministerial Meeting and related events

  International Affairs Division, Commissioner’s Secretariat, Agency for Natural Resources and Energy

• For the roundtable with automobile-related companies

  Automobile Division, Manufacturing Industries Bureau