PORT MORESBY, March 24 – Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinwatra arrived in Papua New Guinea on Sunday to start her two-day official visit.
It is the first state visit of a Thai Prime Minister and a significant implementation of relations with the South Pacific island nation.
The main objective of the visit is to launch a new market for Thai consumer products and to seek an opportunity for infrastructure development investment as Papua New Guinea, though a country rich in natural resources, still lacks investments in the area.
On Monday, Prime Minister Yingluck will pay a courtesy call to Papua New Guinea’s Governor General and will have a bilateral meeting with her counterpart, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill.The discussion will cover issues on the reinforcement of bilateral relations, cooperation development on trade and investment, energy, and academics, as well as multi-lateral cooperation.
Both premiers will also witness the signing ceremony of three MoUs and an Agreement, namely, the Agreement of academic cooperation, an MoU on bilateral discussion between Thailand and Papua New Guinea, and an MoU between the Thai Chamber of Commerce and their Papua New Guinea counterpart, according to the Thai government’s official website.
Papua New Guinea ranks first among the trade and investment counterparts of Thailand from the South Pacific countries with total trade value of US$359 million in 2012.
For investments, the Thai private sector has invested in Papua New Guinea in the areas of food processing, rice and energy export.
