On 11 June 2025, Mr. Tan Sri Dato Soh Thian Lai, President of Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers, paid a courtesy call wot Umesh Pandey, Thailand Trade Representative (TTR) who is in-charge of Asean countries, at Government House to discuss ways to promote trade relations and cooperation between businessmen from both countries.

Mr. Umesh thanked Mr. Tan Sri Dato Soh Thian Lai for bringing more than 40 Malaysian businessmen to visit Thailand, and this was part of the continued efforts to raise the trade and investments between the two countries. This move is part of the ongoing efforts undertaken by Mr. Umesh, to raise the bilateral trade which he had emphasized during his visit to Malaysia in April this year.

The two sides agreed that bilateral trade should rise to US$ 30 billion by 2027 and this will help push the intra-Asean trade to be much higher than the current 21.5%.

“I think both sides should establish a free trade zone or Free Trade Zone between Thailand and Malaysia in the southern region of Thailand, starting from a small scale. For Thailand, it could start with the food and processed food industries, while for Malaysia, it could start with the rubber industry and then expand to larger industries such as the automotive parts industry, in which Thailand is a leader in this region. Malaysia may be able to fill in the rubber product segment,” he said.

In addition, both sides also saw that there is a need to establish ‘ASEAN Business Green Lane’ that would facilitate the movement of businessmen between Thailand and Malaysia and agreed that the establishment of the Cross Border Task Force under the Thailand-Malaysia Joint Trade Committee would help resolve border trade issues between the two countries.

In 2024, Malaysia was Thailand’s 4^th largest trading partner in the world and Thailand’s top   trading partner in ASEAN.
Over the past 5 years (2020-2024), total trade between Thailand and Malaysia was valued at an average of approximately US$ 24,230.95 million per year, with an average growth rate of 6.6 percent per year.

In 2024, total trade between Thailand and Malaysia was valued at US$ 26,055.84 million, an increase of 3.88 percent from the previous year. Thailand exported to Malaysia worth US$ 12,335.20 million. Expanded by 3.09 percent from the previous year, with the value of some product exports increasing, such as refined oil, electrical circuit boards, rubber, and rubber products, etc. Thailand imported from Malaysia worth US$ 13,720.64 million, expanding by 4.6 percent from the previous year, with the value of some product imports increasing, such as crude oil, computers, equipment and components, electrical machinery and components, and refined oil, etc.