Thailand ready to set up ASEAN joint working committee

BANGKOK, September 17 (TNA) - Thailand is prepared to follow a joint agreement among member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), especially on the setting up of a joint working committee after the ASEAN Community (AC) is formed by 2015. New Thai Commerce Minister General Chatchai Sarikulya declared the stance when opening a two-day meeting on "Insights ASEAN Summit 2014", held in Bangkok on Wednesday. General Chatchai said that the ASEAN joint working committee is mainly tasked with serving demands of people in the region, supporting ASEAN to become a world peaceful region and promoting cooperation between ASEAN and economies outside the 10-member bloc. General Chatchai noted that combined trade value between Thailand and other ASEAN member countries totaled over 101 billion US dollars last year, with Thai exports to other ASEAN member countries accounting for 25.9 per cent out of the total. During the first seven months this year, the Thai commerce minister acknowledged, Thai exports to other ASEAN economies valued more than 57 billion US dollars. The two-day meeting, set from September 17-18, was attended by some 300 leading business operators from ASEAN member countries, including Thailand.(TNA)