BANGKOK, April 29 – German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on Sunday met with his Thai counterpart Surapong Tovichakchaikul in a visit to boost the 150th anniversary of Thai-German relations.
Both ministers held a joint news conference after a 30-minute discussion at the Thai Foreign ministry headquarters in Bangkok. On Friday, Mr Guido paid a courtesy call to Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra at Government House.
Mr Surapong said this is the first visit to the kingdom by Germany’s ministerial official since 2006, a good sign that the German government is now confident in the administration of the current government and the overall situation in Thailand.
Apart from a discussion of the celebration to mark the 150th anniversary of Thai-German relations, Mr Surapong said cooperation on trade and investment was raised during the talk.
Mr Surapong noted that Germany ranked first as Thailand’s trade partners in the European Union and that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will pay an official visit to Germany on July 24.
There are currently three thousand German companies investing in Thailand, of which six hundred have announced plans last year to expand their businesses here, said Mr Surapong, adding that the German minister also said he was seeking to push forward a free trade agreement between the two countries.
Germany also informed that it would like to send its experts to Thailand on natural disaster management and donated 100,000 Euro to the Thai ministry of Culture for the restoration of last year’s flood-ravaged Ratburana Temple in Ayutthaya province, according to the Thai foreign minister.
The German foreign minister said his three-day visit (April 27-29) is aimed at boosting ties between the two countries and that Germany stands ready to support Thailand on democracy development and humanitarian aid, as well as offer scholarships to Thai students as a promotion of cultural exchange.
