BANGKOK, May 13 — Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra would officially visit Bahrain and Qatar between May 13-16 to foster relations and seek cooperation and particularly investments from the Middle Eastern countries.
Ms Yingluck and her entourages would leave Thailand at 12.50 pm on Sunday for Manama and visit Bahrain during May 13-25. She then would fly to Doha to visit Qatar during May 15-16.
The primary purposes of the visit is to strengthen ties at all level and promote good cooperation in all dimensions.
During her visit to Bahrain, Ms Yingluck was scheduled to pay a courtesy call to HM King Hamad bin Isa Al and HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa Khalifam.
The Thai premier would later bring a delegation of officials and business representatives to pay a courtesy visit to Bahrain Prime Minister Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Al-Khalifa and attend a plenary session between Thailand and Bahrain.
The bilateral discussion would cover bilateral and multilateral issues where Thailand and Bahrain have mutual benefits. Thailand would thank Bahrain for its support with Thailand’s handling of problems in the three southernmost provinces at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) arena.
Thailand would push for increased private sector roles in construction projects in Bahrain and cooperation in healthcare services.
On this occasion, Thai and Bahrain would sign Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) on tourism cooperation between the two governments.
Ms Yingluck would also give an opening address at the Thai-Bahraini business meeting and would meet with the Thai community in Bahrain.
This was the first visit to the Middle Eastern region for the premier and would mark the 35th anniversary of Thai-Bahraini diplomatic ties.
At Doha, Ms Yingluck would pay a courtesy call on Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the ruling Emir of the State of Qatar, at Amiri Diwan Palace before holding bilateral discussions with Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar.
Medical cooperation will be on the agenda for discussion between the Thai premier and Qatari leaders, as Thailand’s health care services is considered well-developed and of high standards, particularly for orthopedic surgery.
Ms Yingluck was scheduled to return to Thailand on May 17.
