Germany, Thailand to become gateway for EU, ASEAN

BERLIN, GERMANY, July 19 (TNA) - Germany and Thailand have agreed to become each other gateways to the 27-member European Union (EU) and the growing 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The agreement was announced during a joint a press conference by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and visiting Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in Berlin on Wednesday (local time). Merkel stressed that Thailand is the most significant strategic trading partner for the EU although the 27-member bloc is confronting a financial crisis; while Yingluck welcomed Germany's support for a free trade agreement (FTA) between the EU and Thailand and a planned visit to Thailand by German Economics Minister Philipp Roesler in September 2012. The two female leaders also said that Germany and Thailand will expand bilateral cooperation in new fields to further benefit the two allied countries, including food safety and disaster management. Merkel also promised that Germany will assist Thailand in renewable energy and praised the Thai government for further developing local rural areas and on solving domestic political problems. The Thai prime minister, meanwhile, is also scheduled to pay a three-day official visit to France, starting from July 19, at the invitation of newly-elected French President François Hollande. (TNA)