Thai PM ends one-day visit to Manila with bilateral agreements

BANGKOK, January 19 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has wrapped up her one-day official visit to the Philippines, during which the leaders of both neighbouring nations vowed to boost bilateral cooperation, ties and trade and to stop tax duplication. Yingluck promised to cooperate with the Philippines on food security, especially when it comes to rice supply, saying that Thailand is ready to increase its rice exports to the Philippine economy and assuring that both Bangkok and Manila support the establishment of a single community of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) by 2015. Yingluck expressed her hope for further improved relations and mutual interests between the two ASEAN neighbours, praising Manila for anti-graft campaigns and asked the Philippine government to support Thai investors and to prepare for organizing the 5th meeting of the Thai-Philippine Joint Commission which will discuss bilateral cooperation in education and in the suppression of narcotics and transnational crime. Premier Yingluck also confirmed that Thailand promotes peace and security in the South China Sea; while Philippine President Benigno Aquino III praised Thailand for democratic developments, pledging to further promote bilateral and multilateral cooperation with Thailand, including that on trade and investment, and urging for joint studies on disasters and preventions. The Philippine President also said that he will soon send his agriculture minister to Thailand to discuss the reduction of bilateral trade barriers, especially those on farm products. Accompanied by her entourage, the Thai prime minister arrived in Manila Thursday morning when she was received by the Manila mayor and the Philippine navy chief. Yingluck later laid garlands at the Jose Rizal monument in the Philippine capital. Premier Yingluck then visited the Philippine presidential residence, where she was welcomed by the Philippine President and inspected guards of honor and had bilateral talks with the Philippine top leader and a full-panel bilateral discussion for an hour. In a subsequent press conference, the Thai prime minister thanked the Philippines for the warm welcome and its assistance for Thai flood victims and also expressed sympathy with flooding in the Philippines. The Philippine President then hosted a lunch for the Thai prime minister and her delegation at the presidential residence. The Thai premier left the Philippines at 2pm local time and arrived in Bangkok at about 5pm. (TNA)