Chancellor of the University of Papua New Guinea,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thank you very much for the warm welcome.
It is an honour to be here at the University of Papua New Guinea. This university produced leaders in many fields, including your current Prime Minister. The University’s decades of contributions to the development of Papua New Guinea as well as to research on issues relevant to the Pacific islands, such as biodiversity and disaster reduction, are well recognized.
Given today’s interconnected world, further advances in education and knowledge can be developed through stronger links across nations and regions. Papua New Guinea’s future will be increasingly linked to regions beyond the Pacific islands, such as Southeast Asia. It would be useful for students of this country to know more about Thailand and ASEAN which will become a Community by 2015.
So it is a great pleasure for me, as the first Prime Minister from Thailand to visit this country, to hand over books and audio materials on Thailand for the first “Thai Corner” Project in Papua New Guinea at the library of this university. These books and materials covers many topics on Thailand, including arts and culture, history and politics, cuisine and literature, and tourism. I hope that these books will be a source of knowledge and inspiration for all students
In the longer term, I hope that students and teachers of Papua New Guinea can produce some experts and future leaders that would contribute to strengthening ties between our countries.
I look forward to promoting better mutual understanding and shared interests between the peoples of Papua New Guinea and Thailand for many years to come.
Thank you.