Thailand to cooperate with Japan under three projects

TOKYO, April 21 (TNA) - Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said in Tokyo on Saturday that Thailand has proposed to cooperate with Japan in significant projects, including the development of Tavoy deep seaport and an industrial estate in Myanmar. Yingluck, who is attending the 4th Mekong-Japan Summit in Tokyo from April 20-22, told a press conference after holding a meeting with other leaders of the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS), including those of Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda at the Akasaka Palace in Tokyo that her government has attached a great importance to Japan as a crucial strategic partner of Thailand in sustainable co-development. Yingluck revealed that she has offered to cooperate with Japan in the East-West economic development in order to withstand natural flooding and other disasters in Thailand in the future. On ways to further develop Thailand's southern region, Yingluck acknowledged that she has proposed to Japanese investors to jointly develop the Tavoy deep seaport and the industrial estate in Myanmar, and that her administration also plans to invest in a special highway linking Bangkok with the Thai-Myanmar border and linking the Andaman Sea with the South China Sea within the 2012 fiscal year. According to the Thai premier, she has also proposed that both Thailand and Japan organize training for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for countries along the Mekong River basin to prepare them for the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015. The Thai prime minister said that her government has allocated about 883 million yen, or about 77 million U.S. dollars, to assist neighbouring countries on the Meking River delta in improving infrastructure and technical know-how for the benefit and security of the whole GMS. The leaders of the GMS member countries, including Premier Yingluck, met Japanese Emperor Akihito at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Friday, ahead of the summit of the Mekong states and Japan. (TNA)