The Honourable Peter O’Neill,
Prime Minister of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea,
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Media,
I wish to begin by expressing my appreciation to the Prime Minister, Government and people of Papua New Guinea for the warm welcome for my first Official Visit. I am proud to be the first Thai Prime Minister to visit this country. Our visit reflects the importance we attach to Papua New Guinea which is a fellow democracy and a country of great potential in the Pacific.
In seeking to open a new chapter of relations and partnership between our two countries, the Prime Minister and I had productive discussions.
On trade, Papua New Guinea is Thailand’s largest trading partner among the Pacific Island countries and we wish to build on that. So we agreed to explore increased trade in priority areas such as agricultural goods including rice, fishery and seafood, and automobile products.
On investment, Thai investors are active in the fishery industry and rice distribution. We agreed that the early conclusion of the Agreements on the Avoidance of Double Taxation, Investment Promotion and Protection and on Fishery, would help increase investment. I have brought with me 30 representatives from leading Thai companies in key sectors such as energy and renewable energy, food, agriculture, fisheries and construction, to further boost our economic partnership. In particular, we agreed to promote cooperation in rice trade and production in order to enhance food security.
The Prime Minister and I also agreed to further enhance cooperation in technical collaboration and capacity building. Thailand will share our experience in areas such as tourism, agriculture, fishery and SMEs. The Technical Cooperation Agreement signed today provides a good framework for the exchange of experiences and best practices.
As an expression of goodwill, I will be donating “Food Safety and Diagnostic Test Kits” to the Government of Papua New Guinea to support your capacity-building efforts in public health. We will also look into how we could promote cooperation in air services in order to promote people-to-people ties.
With regard to the Southeast Asian region, I updated the Prime Minister on regional developments and the realization of an ASEAN Community by 2015, highlighting Thailand’s role as regional transportation and logistics hub. We commend Papua New Guinea’s engagement with our region, whether through the ARF or APEC, and see your country as an important link for Thailand to the Pacific.
We welcome the expression of support by the Government of Papua New Guinea for Thailand’s candidature for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
To ensure good follow-up and further promote our relations, we have set up a mechanism for consultation that will allow our senior officials to meet on a regular basis. Finally, I look forward to receiving the Prime Minister in Thailand.
Thank you.