On 11 January 2010, Mr. Kasit Piromya, Minister of Foreign Affairs, met with Mr. Veali Vagi, Ambassador of Papua New Guinea to Thailand with residence in Kuala Lumpur, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the occasion of the latter’s visit to Thailand to present his letter of credence to HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn on the assumption of his office.
Foreign Minister Kasit discussed various issues of mutual interest with Ambassador Vagi. On bilateral relations, both sides agreed to strengthen the bilateral relations by creating connectivity through air and sea linkages, exchange of visits, trade and investment, etc. Foreign Minister Kasit also emphasized that Thailand stands ready to provide technical assistance to Papua New Guinea in such areas as tourism, air traffic control, tropical medicine, public health, etc. With regards to Papua New Guinea’s intention to join ASEAN, Foreign Minister Kasit expressed Thailand’s willingness to assist Papua New Guinea in joining the organisation and urged Papua New Guinea to speed up the process of accession which must be done in accordance with the ASEAN Charter.
On the issue concerning developmental assistance to Papua New Guinea, Foreign Minister Kasit recommended that Papua New Guinea prioritize its needs so that proper assistance can be channeled through different frameworks such as bilateral coopeartion with Thailand as well as trilateral and multilateral cooperation of ASEAN, ESCAP and the Pacific Islands Forum.
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 -PM-