Premier to strengthen ties with Australia on upcoming visit
Play
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will make an official visit to Australia this week to boost mutual ties in the fields of trade, investment and educational development.
The three-day visit, starting this Saturday, at the invitation of Australian government, also marks 60 years of bilateral diplomatic relations.
A group of Thai business executives will accompany the premier. The major purposes of the trip include building confidence among Australian investors and the business community in the domestic political and economic situation, strengthening the bilateral strategic partnership, particularly investment in energy, food safety and security, and exchanging information on science and technology.
Yingluck will also meet the Thai community there to hear first-hand about impediments to Thai restaurants in Australia to adjust Thailand's “Thai Kitchen to the World” strategy.
She will also hold bilateral talks with her Australian counterpart Julia Gillard on a wide-ranging agenda that includes bilateral cooperation on trade, investment, energy, science and technology and education.
International cooperation, particularly in regard to the Asean and the East Asia Summit, will also be on the agenda.
The premiers will witness the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on education and see the exchange of a new generation of political leaders.
The visit will help strengthen relations between Thai and Australian leaders, as the last visit by a Thai premier was in 2004.
Thailand is an important regional partner for Australia. It is Australia’s ninth largest trading partner overall, and second largest in Asean, with two-way trade totalling nearly $20 billion in 2010-2011.
