YANGON, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) and the Bank of Thailand (BoT) have signed a letter of intent to make future bilateral negotiations in order to establish Qualified ASEAN Banks (QABs) in both countries, according to the announcement of the CBM Thursday.
This is the first bilateral negotiation of Myanmar as the country has embarked with other ASEAN countries under ASEAN Banking Integration Framework which provides the access for indigenous ASEAN banks to other members' banking sector as well as operational flexibility on a reciprocal basis.
The bilateral negotiations serve as a foundation to increase business opportunities and facilities for growing economic and financial integration between Myanmar and Thailand.
Thailand is the second largest trade partner of Myanmar with their bilateral trade reaching 4.866 billion U.S. dollars in the fiscal year 2015-2016.
Moreover, Thailand stood as Myanmar's third largest investor with 10.606 billion U.S. dollars as of October this year.
