BANGKOK, 3 July 2013 Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has traveled to Poland and Turkey on her first official visits to the two nations from July 3rd-7th, to strengthen relations and promote bilateral investments.
Ms. Yingluck’s official visit to the Republic of Poland is in response to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s invitation. She is hoping to make this European nation a new market for Thai products and to establish cooperation in various fields.
With its ‘look east’ policy, the Republic of Poland has also placed great emphasis on setting up partnerships with East and South East Asian countries. Ms. Yingluck will later travel to the Republic of Turkey in response to an invitation by the Turkish Prime Minister, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Ms. Yingluck will be the first Thai leader to officially visit Turkey in eight years. The goal is to seek cooperation in the fields that Turkey has the expertise such as energy, education, and halal food production. The Prime Minister will also take an opportunity to study the potentials for Thailand to promote tourism and investment to that country.
Turkey itself has paid greater attention to Asia and the ASEAN region for potential economic opportunities as a result of the financial problems in the European Union. Ms. Yingluck will take this opportunity to consolidate the Thai-Turkish relations within the frameworks of the OIC, CICA and ASEAN.
