PM Yingluck’s official visits at the invitation of the Prime Minister John Key of New Zealand, and Prime Minister Peter O'Neill of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea. Ministers and representatives from the private sector who will accompany PM Yingluck include Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul, PM’s Office Minister Niwatthamrong Bunsongpaisal, Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom, Energy Minister Pongsak Raktapongpaisal, Science and Technology Minister Worawat Ua-apinyakul, PM’s Secretary General Suranand Vejajiva, Government Spokesperson Tosaporn Serirak, and representatives from the Thai private sector in the fields of energy, green business, medical tourism, construction, education, and food.
The official visit to New Zealand of PM Yingluck is aimed to strengthen bilateral relations on the occasion of the 57th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between Thailand and New Zealand (since 1956), and to boost confidence on Thailand’s political security and economic dynamism, as well as to expand cooperation in such significant fields to Thai economy and competitiveness as education, science and technology, innovation, labor, and agriculture. PM Yingluck is set to have a bilateral meeting with the New Zealand premier. The discussion will cover cooperation expansion in the areas of sciences, agricultural and food management, trade negotiation under the framework of TNZCEP Agreement, education, labor promotion, tourism and film industry, as well as cooperation in the regional level. PM Yingluck will also extend an invitation to Prime Minister John Key to attend the 2nd Asia-Pacific Water Summit. Both premiers will join hands in supporting the roles of Thailand and New Zealand in the regional arena under the framework of such Agreements as ASEAN, EAS, and APEC, and will witness the signing ceremony of an MOU on mutual cooperation on education, and the letter of intent on the cooperation framework in science, technology, and innovation.
Furthermore, PM Yingluck will also lead a group of Thai businessmen to visit and observe on eco-tourism management and agricultural technology at Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited which is New Zealand’s biggest producer of the dairy products.
On this occasion, Auckland University of Technology (AUT), Auckland will confer PM Yingluck with the honorary doctorate degree for her remarkable role in the international stages and the first elected female Prime Minister of Thailand.
This visit marks the first visit of a Thai Prime Minister to New Zealand in 9 years, following the last visits during 2004 and 2005 (during Helen Clark’s Premiership). At present, trade value between Thailand and New Zealand is around 1,630 million US Dollars (around 50,000 million Baht), and Thailand has the positive balance of trade of 432 million US Dollars (around 13,000 million Baht). On investment, New Zealand corporations such as Fonterra, and Fisher & Paykel (an electrical appliances and kitchenware producer) has been investing in Thailand whereas PTT-EP of Thailand has invested in energy resources survey in New Zealand. On tourism, around 100,000 New Zealand tourists visit Thailand annually, and there are around 15,000 Thai tourists to New Zealand. New Zealand is also a popular destination for Thai students with 7,000 of them at present.
Later on March 24-25, 2013, PM Yingluck and the delegation will make a visit to the Independent State of Papua New Guinea which will be the first state visit of a Thai Prime Minister and a significant implementation of relations with the country in the south pacific islands. 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 since Papua New Guinea, though a country rich in natural resources, still lacks investments on the area. PM Yingluck will also take the change to boost confidence on Thailand’s political security and economic dynamism, as well as to present the leading role of Thailand in the Southeast Asian region and ASEAN.
Highlight of the visit of PM Yingluck is to pay a courtesy call on Papua New Guinea’s Governor General and have a bilateral meeting with the 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 Agreement, namely, the Agreement on academic cooperation, an MOU on bilateral discussion between Thailand and Papua New Guinea, and an MOU between Thai Chamber of Commerce and the Papua New Guinea counterpart.
PM Yingluck will also preside over a presentation ceremony of food hygiene testing and disease detecting devices to support Papua New Guinea’s public healthcare services as well as educational materials and memorabilia from Thailand to Papua New Guinea universities as part of its curriculum on Thailand and ASEAN in order for the people of Papua New Guinea to get to know more about Thailand and boost people-to-people relations between the two countries. Furthermore, PM Yingluck is scheduled to observe Papua New Guinea’s PNG/LNG natural gas project as a possible resource for Thailand’s reserved energy, and also to seek an opportunity to expand Thai investment on energy in Papua New Guinea.
Thailand and Papua New Guinea have had cordial relations both in the bilateral and multi-lateral levels. Papua New Guinea is no. 1 among the South Pacific countries on economic potential with rich natural resources such as forests, gold, copper, nickel, oil, natural gas, or marine lives. Two out of three of the national export revenue comes from natural resources. Papua New Guinea rank first among the trade and investment counterparts of Thailand from the South Pacific countries with total trade value of 359.96 million US Dollars in 2012. On investment, Thai private sector has invested in Papua New Guinea in the areas of food processing, rice and energy export.
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