Thai Pm To Assure China Safety Of Investors, Tourists

[churchill]

BEIJING, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva will visit China in late June in an attempt to assure the country of the safety of its investments, travel protection in Thailand and the security of the ASEAN Summit slated for late October.

Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said Thursday, Abhisit's China trip is scheduled for June 24-27, during which time he would meet with Chinese leaders, and businessmen from industrial and tourism sectors.

Besides Beijing, Abhisit also plans to travel to Guangzhou, capital of China's southern Guangdong province, to encourage Chinese investment in Thailand.

Negotiation of a free trade area between China and ASEAN would be completed with an investment agreement to be signed during Abhisit's upcoming tour, said Kasit in an interview with Xinhua.

Thailand holds the rotating presidency of the ASEAN this year. The group consists of Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Calling China a friendly neighbor and an important power in the Asia-Pacific region and the world, Kasit said Thailand highly values its relations with China. Bilateral friendly exchanges dates back a thousand years ago.

Every time a new Thai government is installed, the government leader would visit Beijing to cement the bilateral relationship and work out the future direction those ties, he added.

Thailand hopes to further cement cooperation with China in financial and technical areas, work together to promote the reform of global financial institutions including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and safeguard regional stability, Kasit said.

Last month Thailand announced it would postpone the 14th ASEAN Summit and related meetings until late October as some leaders were not available to attend in June. It was originally scheduled for last year but was postponed because of political turmoil in the country.

The foreign minister said Thailand is determined to host the ASEAN Summit as scheduled with security ensured, promising never to allow the Pattaya unrest to occur again.

"We are 100 percent certain that we can provide security and protection to all the incoming leaders," he added.

Thailand had finalized the timing of the summit on Oct. 23-25 in the island city of Phuket, Kasit said, adding a series of meetings among officials are scheduled ahead of the event.

He said relevant departments of Thailand had constantly reviewed the political situation and improved their security arrangement. Protesters would not be allowed within the designated area.

Kasit is on a two-day China trip as guest of his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-06/...nt_11527779.htm