Bangkok，February 9, 2023（AseanAll）— February 2,  Patrick Hemmer, Ambassador of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg to Thailand, paid a courtesy call on Thai Prime Minister and Defense Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha on occasion of his assumption of duty.  

The Prime Minister welcomed Luxembourg Ambassador to Thailand, and expressed pleasure over cordial and close relations between the two countries. He also commended Luxembourg Ambassador’s commitment to promote relations and cooperation, and affirmed Thailand’s full support given to the Ambassador during his tenure in Thailand.

The Luxembourg Ambassador expressed appreciation for the warm welcome, and commended cooperation dynamism between Thailand and Luxembourg. He was of the view that the two countries have potential to increase cooperation, especially in space cooperation, satellite, financial cooperation, and academic cooperation, which are Luxembourg’s expertise. He also conveyed the regards of Luxembourg Prime Minister to the Prime Minister, and congratulated Thailand’s success in hosting the APEC Leaders’ Meeting and in putting forward the Bangkok Goals on Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) Economy.

Both parties also discussed issues of mutual interest:

The Prime Minister and the Ambassador agreed that there are potentials for the two countries for economic cooperation reinforcement. The Prime Minister thanked Luxembourg private sector for their confidence and investment in Thailand, and expressed hope that they consider increasing investment, especially in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC). He also extended an invitation for members of Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce to visit Thailand, and affirmed the Thai Government’s intent to use the BCG Economic Model as a compass to guide Thailand toward becoming economically sustainable, low-carbon society, and a digital economy, which is relevant with the “European Green Deal. This is, thus, a good opportunity for both Thailand and Luxembourg to promote export of environmental goods and green business investment between each other. The Ambassador stands ready to push forward trade and investment cooperation, and informed the Prime Minister that Cargolux, Luxembourg’s Cargolux Airlines, has now increased its flight to Thailand.

Both parties were also pleased with financial cooperation dynamism between Thailand and Luxembourg, and came to terms to expand cooperation on the exchange of information, knowledge transfer, and financial training, especially FinTech. The Ambassador also called on Thailand to consider an amendment of the Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income, B.E. 2539, and to push forward an agreement on social security, which would benefit the people and tourists of the two countries. The Prime Minister agreed to assign these matters to concerned agencies for further consideration.

The Prime Minister was also pleased with strong trilateral cooperation, especially in the area of public health. Thailand stands ready to expand trilateral cooperation with Luxembourg in other areas through sharing of expertise, knowledge, and experiences, and transfer of technology, and to discuss the possibility for Luxembourg to participate in the development cooperation program under ACMECS’s 3rd Pillar.

On multilateral cooperation, the Prime Minister congratulated successful negotiation on Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between Thailand EU, and called on Luxembourg to help expedite PCA ratification process, and support renegotiation of Thailand-EU FTA.