Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya briefed the press on 26 February 2009 on his bilateral discussion with his Singaporean counterpart on the sidelines of the 14th ASEAN Summit and his visit to Vietnam the previous day.
Minister Kasit said it was the first time he met Singaporean Foreign Minister George Yeo, and the discussion focused primarily on how Thailand and Singapore could work together to move ASEAN forward as a community — both at the upcoming Summit and beyond. The two ministers shared the view that ASEAN should send a message to the global community on the urgent need to address the global economic crisis.
Minister Kasit said that Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has been invited, in his capacity as ASEAN Chairman, by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to attend the G-20 meeting on 2 April 2009. This would make Thailand the only ASEAN member country in attendance besides Indonesia, a G-20 member. The two ministers concurred that ASEAN should use the opportunity to urge the global community to cooperate on tackling the economic, financial and banking problems, sharing information and coordinating their efforts as much as possible.
The Thai foreign minister also said that he had accepted FM Yeo’s invitation to pay an official visit to Singapore on 17-8 March 2009, which would be an opportunity for both sides to discuss bilateral issues.
Minister Kasit further briefed the press about his one-day visit to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on 25 February 2009, during which he made courtesy calls on the Prime Minister of Vietnam Mr. Nguyen Tan Dung, and the Chairman of the External Relations Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam. He also had bilateral discussions with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Pham Gia Khiem, and met with the Royal Thai Embassy’s “Team Thailand” and the Thai business community in Vietnam.
Among the key issues he discussed with the Vietnamese side was how to promote bilateral cooperation, including on trade, tourism and investment. The Foreign Minister noted that Vietnam invited Thai businesspeople to invest more in Vietnam in various potential sectors such as infrastructure development, real property, agricultural processing and fisheries. To build on the visit, the foreign minister said he would invite the Thai business sector, including commercial banks, the Export-Import Bank of Thailand (EXIM Bank) and Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand (SME Bank) to discuss how to further coordinate and promote Thai investment in Vietnam.
Other topics touched upon were Mekong subregional cooperation, education and research as well as people-to-people exchanges. In other ASEAN related issues, Thailand and Vietnam reaffirmed their intention to work together to move ASEAN forward.
Minister Kasit added that during his call on the Chairman of the External Relations Committee, they exchanged views not only on ways to promote relations between Thailand and Vietnam, but also on party-to-party relations, including within the framework of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA).
Minister Kasit said that the Vietnamese side indicated a wish to reconvene the Thai-Vietnamese Joint Cabinet Meeting. He said that he was receptive in principle and would consult Prime Minister Abhisit, noting that it should only be a matter of finding a suitable date.
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