On 24 July 2009 during 11:15-13:10 hours, Mr. Kasit Piromya, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, welcomed Mr. Sergey V. Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On this occasion, the two Foreign Ministers had bilateral talks, signed the Joint Action Plan between the two Foreign Ministries and held a joint press conference. The Thai Foreign Minister also hosted a luncheon in honour of the Russian Foreign Minister.
During the joint press conference, Foreign Minister Kasit told the press that the Russian Foreign Minister was visiting Thailand as guest of the Foreign Ministry during 23-24 July 2009 after having attended the Post Ministerial Conferences and the 16th ASEAN Regional Forum in Phuket, Thailand. His Majesty the King would graciously grant an audience to the Russian Foreign Minister at Klai Kangwon Palace in Huahin later on the same day. Furthermore, the Russian Foreign Minister had called on Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva, Prime Minister, in the morning and would deliver a special lecture on “Thailand-Russia Relations and the Role of Russia in Asia-Pacific” at Chulalongkorn University in the afternoon.
Foreign Minister Kasit noted that relations between Thailand and Russia dated back over a hundred years. He said that during the bilateral talks he and his Russian counterpart had a comprehensive review of all aspects of the Thai-Russian bilateral cooperation including areas such as science and technology, education, trade and investment, tourism as well as law enforcement. The two sides also discussed ways to conclude negotiations on outstanding draft agreements, such as the Additional Protocol on Investment Promotion and Protection, so that these bilateral agreements could be signed during the 4th Thailand-Russia Joint Commission Meeting, to be held in Bangkok on 27 November, 2009. The two sides also discussed other pending issues such as Russia’s outstanding debt to Thailand for payment of Thai rice, cooperation in areas of energy, space and satellite, as well as trade and investment promotions. The Thai Foreign Minister was pleased that recently the Export-Import Bank of Thailand (EXIM Bank) had opened an office in Moscow for bilateral trade promotion.
In summary, Foreign Minister Kasit said that the bilateral discussion had been fruitful, as Thai-Russian relations in all areas had been thoroughly considered, in order to further the friendship between the two countries for the benefit the peoples of Thailand and Russia.
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