Thai PM meets leading Japanese business groups in Tokyo

TOKYO, February 9 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha has met representatives of leading Japanese private business groups in Tokyo and asked them to support Thailand's joint projects with a promise to facilitate their investment. Prime Minister General Prayut, who is paying a three-day official visit to Japan from February 8-10, met a delegation of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, led by its President Teisuke Kitayama at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo on Monday, during which Kitayama insisted despite flooding and political problems in Thailand over the past years, Japanese investors, especially those running small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and energy firms, remain in the Thai economy. The Thai prime minister then proposed that Japan consider Thailand as a center of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and that Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation pay attention to informal loan problems. Kitayama, who is also Chairman of the Japan-Thailand Business Forum (JTBF) and the Japan-Thailand Association (JTA), noted that JTA has been established for over 80 years, while JTBF has been the grouping of Japanese business operators in Thailand since 2002 and both Japanese organizations have been closely connected. Kitayama also said JTA and JTBF members plan to visit Thailand in the near future to meet authorities of the Board of Investment of Thailand (BOI), the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and Japanese banks in Thailand. The Thai prime minister informed the leading Japanese business delegation that his government plans to further develop economic and transport infrastructure, as well as connectivity with neighboring countries. Besides, Thailand plans to join the development of the Dawei special economic zone in Myanmar with Japan, asking Japanese business operators to support those projects, promising that his government will do the best to support their investment in Thailand. (TNA)