The leaders of Japan and Thailand have agreed to cooperate for the success of a special summit of Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to be held in Tokyo next month.

Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin met for about 30 minutes at a hotel in San Francisco on Wednesday. The leaders are in the US city for the summit meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

Kishida told Srettha that Japan wants to further develop bilateral relations and work with Thailand to maintain and bolster a free and open international order based on the rule of law.

The two leaders agreed to work together to make the Japan-ASEAN summit in December a success.

They confirmed cooperation in economic areas, including the energy and automobile industries, and in the security field.

They also agreed on joint efforts to promote the Asia Zero Emission Community, which is a framework put forward by Kishida for carbon neutrality in Asia.

The leaders also talked about the Israel-Hamas conflict. Kishida said a de-escalation is needed amid the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza. Srettha said Thailand will continue to work with concerned countries.