Thai PM attends 19th ASEAN-Japan Summit in Vientiane

BANGKOK, September 7 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha has participated in the 19th ASEAN-Japan Summit in Vientiane, organised as part of the 28th-29th ASEAN Summits in the Lao capital during September 6-8. During Wednesday's ASEAN-Japan Summit, the Thai prime minister praised Tokyo for economic cooperation in the region and invited Japan to invest in Thailand's special economic zones (SEZs) along the border with neighbouring countries to help distribute economic growth to the areas and connect supply chains between Thailand and the neighbouring countries. The Thai premier said that Bangkok also promotes and supports Japan-ASEAN cooperation on a new form of security through existing mechanisms, particularly in anti-transnational crime, terrorism and extremism, as well as in cyber and maritime security. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and leaders of all 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), meanwhile, agreed to implement the 10-year ASEAN–Japan strategic plan on economic cooperation and to follow a joint vision on friendship and cooperation between Japan and ASEAN. (TNA)