BANGKOK, 6 February 2013 Thailand and France are set to enhance bilateral economic and trade strategic connections, according to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
PM Yingluck, on Tuesday, welcomed French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and his spouse, who have been on the official visit to Thailand, as guests of the government during 4-5 February.
Both leaders inspected the Guard of Honor before joining a meeting to discuss Thai-French relations, which a continuation from PM Yingluck’s previous trip to France.
The two later witnessed the signing of 5 agreements, covering such areas as national defense, education, joint production of Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis and Hepatitis vaccines, an MOU on Cooperation on International Research Network and a joint curriculum development between Thailand’s Rajamangala University of Technology and France’s University Institutes of Technology (IUT).
After the meeting, Ms. Yingluck and her French counterpart held a press conference, which shed light on their discussion related to the two nations’ collaboration on transport, high-speed train development and aviation industry.
Concerning the pending Thai-French Free Trade Area, the two PMs agreed that a conclusion on this agreement should be reached within this year, after the details of the Framework Agreement have been discussed.
Mr. Ayrault added that France is also paying attention to the expansion of trade and investment in Thailand’s basic infrastructure development projects, with several French companies already poured a total of approximately 87 million euros into these projects.
At the same time, PM Yingluck expressed confidence that the two nations will collaborate more in the development of economic and trade strategic connections as well as in bringing ASEAN closer to Europe in many ways. She also noted the French PM’s visit to Thailand as a success for both countries.
After the press conference, the Thai Premier hosted a dinner reception for the French Prime Minister and his spouse as well as the French delegation at the Santi Maitree Building, Government House.
