1. Pleased with the Official Visit to Thailand of the President of the Philippines. The Visit has reaffirmed the close friendship and cordial relations between our two countries, as well as our shared commitment to further expand our bilateral cooperation in a wide range of areas. Our warm and friendly relations are based on mutual respect and trust. Thailand and the Philippines are also co-founders of ASEAN.

2. This visit is a great opportunity for both sides to deepen cooperation in areas of common interest as well as to exchange ideas and best practices for the mutual benefit of our two countries, particularly in the areas of energy, education, transnational crime and agriculture.

3. Both sides expressed satisfaction on the fruitful results of the discussions. The progress of cooperation is impressive. Thailand appreciates the Philippine willingness to consider removing impediments on trade and investment, and to support the Thai private sector in the Philippines, which will significantly increase trade volume between our two countries. In this regard, the meeting agreed to convene the First Joint Trade Committee (JTC) meeting in which the two sides could further discuss in a comprehensive manner the issues pertaining to trade and investment between Thailand and the Philippines. The exact date of the meeting will be discussed further by the concerned authorities.

4. Thailand and the Philippines agreed to convene the Fifth Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) this year after a 4-year hiatus. This meeting is tentatively scheduled to be held in August in the Philippines. The JCBC meeting will be a forum to review ongoing cooperation, to plan future actions and to explore new opportunities in every dimension of cooperation.

5. Both countries recognized the energy sector as a potential area of cooperation that offers tremendous opportunities for their respective private sectors. In this regard, the meeting agreed to establish the Joint Working Group on Energy as a mechanism to explore the possibility to reap benefit for both sides. Furthermore, the President has invited the Thai private sector to invest in the energy industry and infrastructure including natural gas, transportation, power supplier and real-estate sector as a part of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) policy of the Philippine Government.

6. Both sides expressed their readiness to enhance cooperation on education through the exchange of expertise, scholars and students. It was agreed that the MOA on Education will be signed at the 5th JCBC meeting.

7. Besides bilateral issues, Thailand and the Philippines reaffirmed their commitment to cooperate on trans-boundary human security issues, including combating human trafficking and narcotics, transnational crime and terrorism. The two sides expressed hope to strengthen existing mechanisms and exchange best practices, information and experience on all areas of mutual interest. In addition, the meeting agreed to improve and revise the existing MOA on Cooperation in Preventing and Combating Transnational Crimes signed by the two Foreign Ministers in 1998 due to the changing global landscape of international security issues.