Source: The Manila Times, 20 January 2012
Sawasdee, welcome to the Philippines. Thanks for visiting us, Honorable Prime Minister Khun Yingluck Shinawatra.
Sawasdee, God bless and goodbye, Madame Prime Minister.
The visit was only a six-hour affair. Despite its brevity, the bright and beauteous Khun Yingluck Shinawatra’s visit to our country was an event whose importance should not be underestimated.
In the announcement of her Philippine trip, the government spokesperson said that this one-day official visit was for the purpose of introducing her to the Filipino people and officialdom. This was her first trip to our country since she assumed office as the Kingdom of Thailand’s head of government. It is her eighth trip to an Asean country.
The government announcement told the Thai public that Prime Minister Shinawatra would explore the expansion of trade opportunities with the Philippines and express the Kingdom’s “readiness to sell rice to the Philippines.” And she did.
This is an assurance we in the Philippines need. For if, God forbid, Agriculture Secretary Prospero Alcala’s plans miscarry and we are still not self-sufficient in rice by 2013, we could be in very serious trouble.
Natural disasters, like the recent floods that discommoded Thailand and caused tragedies in Mindanao, are forecast to disrupt rice production worldwide. Rice producing-and-exporting countries would then have to keep their rice to themselves. For they must first make sure their own populations have enough rice to eat—lest there be food riots. Thailand is a world leader in rice-production and exportation. It is one of our rice sources. Khun Yingluck Shinawatra’s assurance is a blessing.
She also pushed for the fifth meeting of the Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation between Thailand and the Philippines to be held. President Aquino and Prime Minister Shinwatra also touched on cooperation in other fields, such as in educational and alternative energy development.
President Aquino, Thai PM Shinawatra talks ‘fruitful’
President Aquino III said his and Thailand Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s bilateral talks in Malacañang yesterday were fruitful.
“I believe the good Prime Minister will agree with me that the resilient economies of the Philippines and Thailand are the product of our shared commitment to free trade and investment,” he said.
“Our open markets have paved the way for the exchange of goods and services that have translated into billions of US dollars. Capital and investment are pouring in. Businesses are expanding beyond our borders,” he added.
The President also said that he and PM Shinawatra “agreed to further expand our functional cooperation in key areas such as education, combating drug trafficking, and disaster risk reduction and management.”
The two leaders also agreed to “continue working toward enhancing our countries’ excellent partnership and productive engagement both in the bilateral and multilateral arena.”
“On this matter, we both acknowledged the value of regular and sustained policy dialogue. We both look forward to Manila’s hosting of the 5th Meeting of the Philippines-Thailand Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC), which will allow us to substantially discuss ways to further strengthen the implementation of our existing cooperation in the areas of energy, agriculture, defense and culture,” the President said.
“I am confident that our fruitful and auspicious meeting this morning will contribute greatly to ensuring further benefits to bilateral relations between the Filipinos and Thais,” he added.
Her govt ready to support Thai investors in PH
The President made use of his meeting with Khun Yingluck Shinawatra to reiterate the Philippines invitation to Thai investors and businessmen to invest in the Philippines, through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) program. The PPP programs awaiting foreign investors are mainly construction and government infrastructure projects,
He cited the importance of the private sector as an invaluable partner in the Philippine government’s quest to uplift the life of Filipinos.
“The government is committed to providing the enabling environment for private sector participation through Public Private Partnerships (PPP),” he said.
Prime Minister Shinawatra’s responded by saying that her government “is ready to provide support to Thai investors who wish to invest in the Philippines under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) programs.”
The Philippines and Thailand have shared for 63 years one of the oldest and strongest bilateral relationships in Southeast Asia. The two leaders both called it “a dynamic and fruitful partnership.”
Committed to building Asean community
The two leaders each recommitted their own country to the goal of establishing an Asean Community by 2015.
The President underscored the Philippine commitment to building an ASEAN Community founded “on the bedrock principle of compassion and respect for the rights and welfare of its peoples.”
“I also informed the Prime Minister of the Philippines’ major advocacies in the Asean, which includes connectivity, maritime security, food security, migrant workers’ protection, disaster management and biodiversity,” he said.
“I was pleased to learn about Thailand’s own priorities, and to note synergy and congruence in our countries’ thrusts,” he added.
Khun Shinawatra stressed the importance of maintaining a reliable and secure connectivity program between Asean-member countries to ensure that the efforts to build the Asean Community succeeds.
“Both our two countries reaffirm our commitment to Asean Community in 2015 and to promote connectivity in the regions. Together, we hope to create an Asean community that is people-centered to the regional architecture and plays an important role in global affairs,” the Thai PM said.
The goal of establishing of a borderless Asean Community by 2015 was signed during the 14th ASEAN Summit in Hua Hin, Thailand, in 2009. That Asean Community is planned to be similar to the European Union (EU). But some thinkers are now hoping the Asean project will end up better than the EU which is now plagued by an economic crisis owing to the lack of a true EU political government and central bank.
We agree with President Aquino. The visit of Prime Minister Khun Yingluck Shinawatra Shinawatra to our country “further strengthens cooperation between the Philippines and Thailand for the benefit of the people of both countries.”
