BANGKOK, Jan 11 – Newly-appointed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is scheduled to visit Thailand next week as a guest of the Thai government, according to a statement released by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday.
The Japanese premier and his wife will officially visit the kingdom on next Thursday and Friday. It will be the first visit of the Japanese prime minister to Thailand in 11 years. The last visit was that of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in 2003.
Mr Abe led the Liberal Democratic Party to victory in nationwide elections on December 16 last year. He was named by the parliament prime minister of Japan December 26.
The foreign ministry’s statement said Mr Abe is scheduled to meet with Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on several issues covering bilateral, regional and multilateral cooperation.
The leaders will exchange views to promote the Thailand-Japan Strategic Partnership based on over 125 years of diplomatic relations which has focused on democracy and mutual interests.
The two premiers will also discuss ways to enhance prosperity, peace and sustainable development of the region through the ASEAN-Japan Dialogue Partnership which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, as well as through the Mekong-Japan cooperation framework and other regional frameworks.
Thailand and Japan are important economic partners under the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement (JTEPA). In 2012, the trade volume between the two partners reached Bt2.11 trillion.
Japan is Thailand’s biggest trade partner, while Thailand is Japan’s sixth biggest partner.
As for investment, Japan ranks first in Thailand’s direct investment, worth around Bt3.12 billion, nearly two-thirds , a 63 per cent share of total foreign investment in the kingdom.
Japan was also Thailand’s third largest source of tourists in 2012, following Malaysia and China. A total of 1.2 million Japanese visited Thailand last year, while 211,076 Thais went to japan.
Currently, there are 40,957 Thais living in Japan, while 47, 251 Japanese stay in Thailand.
