Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand, is scheduled to pay an official working visit to the Republic of Korea (ROK) as well as attend the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit from 24 to 27 March 2012. The said visit will be an opportunity for Thailand to build confidence among ROK investors, especially after the recent flooding in Thailand last year.
The purpose of the visit to the ROK from 24-25 March 2012 is to enhance Thai-ROK bilateral relations in all dimensions. In this regard, Prime Minister Yingluck will attend to important functions, which include bilateral discussions with President Lee Myung-bak on issues such as trade and investment, bilateral cooperation (agriculture, labour, tourism, nuclear energy and environmental growth), meetings with important figures from both the public and private sectors, visiting the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project to learn from the ROK’s best practices in water management in order to apply to Thailand, as well as deliver a speech on the role of women in Thai society to students of Ewha Women’s University.
After the said visit, Prime Minister Yingluck will then participate in the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit hosted by the ROK from 26 — 27 March 2012. Leaders from 52 countries and three international organizations (namely, the United Nations, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and INTERPOL) will participate in the said meeting. In this connection, Thailand will use this forum to underline Thailand’s political will in strengthening nuclear security and reducing threats from nuclear terrorism, as well as will be an opportunity for Prime Minister Yingluck to meet with leaders from all over the world to build confidence in Thailand.
To note, the Nuclear Security Summit 2012 is the second meeting held, after the first one held in Washington in 2010. In this regard, the Summit this time will discuss nuclear security and try to produce concrete results. Thailand gives importance to the issue of nuclear security and had always abide by the Resolutions of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). After the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, Thailand joined the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT) and had suggested the establishment of the nuclear monitoring network in the Southeast Asian region, as well as is in the middle of the establishment of the Center of Excellence to investigate nuclear traces.
To this end, the visit of Prime Minister Yingluck to the ROK will be a chance for Thailand to build confidence and stimulate trade and investment among ROK investors, especially after the big flooding in Thailand’s history. Prime Minister Yingluck will meet with leading ROK businessmen who have plans to expand investment in Thailand and will bring along with her a delegation of Thai business executives to meet with their ROK counterparts.
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