On 16 December 2010 at 11.00 hrs., Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya held a bilateral meeting with His Excellency Dr. Khalid bin Mohammed Al-Attiya, Minister of State for International Cooperation of Qatar, at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre, Bangkok, on the sidelines of the Third Asia-Middle East Dialogue Ministerial Meeting (AMED III).
The Qatari Minister of State informed the Thai side that Qatar has now been pursuing a “Look East” policy given that historically, the Middle East had been more focused on engaging with the West. Welcoming this, Foreign Minister Kasit noted that there is much that Asia and the Middle East can cooperate with each other. Bilaterally, both Ministers agreed that the exchange of high level visits would be useful in promoting the partnership between Thailand and Qatar, while multilaterally, the ASEAN-Gulf Cooperation Council (ASEAN GCC), and the Asia Cooperation Dialogue could also serve as a basis for further cooperation in addition to AMED.
Foreign Minister Kasit expressed the wish to see Qatar’s Sovereign Wealth Fund invest in Thailand, which is timely as Thailand has now focused on infrastructure development. To this end, Qatar’s Minister of State for International Cooperation suggested that Qatar could send an investment surveillance team to Thailand to explore the possibilities and avenues for further cooperation with Thailand’s Board of Investment. In addition, the Qatari side expressed its interest in mining in Thailand, which — Foreign Minister Kasit viewed — could benefit further effort by Thailand to explore its mineral resources.
Foreign Minister Kasit also congratulated Qatar on winning the bid to host the World Cup in 2022.
For further information, please contact the Press Division, Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tel.02-6435170, Fax.02-6435169, E-mail: div0704@mfa.go.th