Source: New Tang Dynasty (NTD) Television
Philippine president Benigno Aquino arrived in Thailand on Thursday for a two-day official visit.
He met with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. On the agenda were bilateral trade and investment, as well as the two countries’ respective roles in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonly known as ASEAN.
They also talked about cooperation in fighting drug trafficking, agricultural support, cooperation in regional and multilateral forums and exploring ways to further strengthen ties between the two nations.
They agreed to convene the first joint trade committee meeting, as well as to hold the 5th Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation in August in the Philippines after a four-year gap.
[Abhisit Vejjajiva, Thai Prime Minister]:“We appreciate the Philippines willingness to consider some of the requests that we’ve put in particular on removing impediments on trade investment and to support the Thai private sector in the Philippines, which will significantly increase trade volume even further between our two countries.”
President Aquino says Thailand is the ninth largest trading partner of the Philippines and expresses his aim to strengthen cooperation.
[Benigno Aquino, Philippines President]:“My government welcomes the participation of Thai companies in the Philippines infrastructure development through the PPP (Public-Private Partnership) program. Prime Minister Abhisit and I also discussed the important of working together in addressing common regional and global challenges, particularly in agriculture cooperation, drug trafficking and disaster risk reduction and management.”
The visit of the Philippines leader is to affirm the long-lasting and strong relations between the two countries since the establishment of bilateral relations in 1949.
Published by NTD TV on May 27, 2011
