On 25 September 2026, Her Excellency Ms. Lada Phumas, Ambassador of Thailand to Malaysia, alongside YB Tuan Haji Akmal Nasrullah bin Mohd Nasir, Minister of Economy of Malaysia, co-chaired the Opening Ceremony of the 3rd Economic Forum 2026 under the theme “Bridging the Two Borders: Elevating Thailand - Malaysia Resilient Value Chains in Halal and Rubber Industries” at the Imperial Lexis Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. The high-level event achieved resounding success, drawing over 250 distinguished attendees from the Thai and Malaysian public and private sectors, academia, civil societies, particularly key players in the halal and processed rubber industries, transport and logistics sectors, think tanks, and local Malaysian media, while garnering significant digital engagement, with over 10,000 viewers tuning into the Royal Thai Embassy’s Facebook Live broadcast.

 

In her opening remarks, the Ambassador highlighted that the Forum, now in its 3rd consecutive year, is designed to elevate the Thailand - Malaysia economic partnership into concrete, tangible outcomes. The 2026 Forum strategically focused on integrating the value chains of the creative halal and sustainable rubber industries through combining Thailand’s strengths in agricultural innovation, livestock, food, and upstream rubber production—particularly within the Southern Border Provinces (SBPs)—with Malaysia’s robust downstream rubber processing capabilities and expansive reach into the global halal market, with a view to becoming a unified regional processing base and a global export powerhouse for halal and rubber products, driving toward the bilateral trade target of USD 30 billion by 2027, which marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of Thailand - Malaysia diplomatic relations, while laying the groundwork for the upcoming 16th Meeting of the Thailand - Malaysia Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JC) and the 7th Ministerial Meeting of the Thailand - Malaysia Committee on the Joint Development Strategy for Border Areas (JDS) to be hosted by Thailand in October 2026 in Bangkok.

 

Minister Akmal commended the Forum as a creative and vital initiative that demonstrates the shared commitment of both countries to leverage their geographical proximity, particularly between Thailand’s SBPs and Northern Malaysia, towards elevating productivity and value of both countries’ halal and rubber industries on the regional and global stage. The Minister also reaffirmed Malaysia’s readiness to collaborate actively with Thailand across bilateral, sub-regional, and ASEAN frameworks to further advance border connectivity projects based on mutual benefits.

 

Building on the momentum of the Malaysia’s Premier Songkran Festival 2026 (9 – 19 April 2026) and the Unseen Phuket Diplomatic Journey (1 - 4 May 2026), which demonstrated the commercial power and local innovation driving Thailand’s Creative Economy, the Economic Forum 2026 featured two primary policy dialogues: (1) Unlocking New Frontiers: Scaling Thailand - Malaysia Halal and Islamic Lifestyle Value Chain, and (2) Strategic Partnership in Action: Advancing Thailand - Malaysia Sustainable Rubber Value Chain. These dynamic panels featured insights from leading institutional and industry representatives from both Thailand and Malaysia, including: (1) Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Thailand, (2) Thai Chamber of Commerce, (3) Halal Institute at Prince of Songkhla University, (4) Halal Science Centre at Chulalongkorn University, (5) Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT), (6) Thai Eastern Group Holdings PCL, (7) Islamic Tourism Centre (ITC) under the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture of Malaysia (MOTAC), [8] Halal Development Corporation Berhad (HDC) under the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry of Malaysia (MITI), (9) International Institute for Halal Research and Training (INHART) at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), (10) Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) under the Ministry of Economy of Malaysia, (11) Malaysian Rubber Board (MRB) under the Ministry of Plantation and Commodities of Malaysia, (12) Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC), and (13) Centre for Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (CIMT) Subregional Cooperation.