Yingluck aims to develop PNG ties

Yingluck aims to develop PNG ties

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra travels to Oceania this week with the goal of establishing Papua New Guinea as Thailand's number one trading partner in the Pacific Islands.

Yingluck Shinawatra will become the first Thai prime minister to visit resource-rich Papua New Guinea. (Photo by Chanat Katanyu)

Ms Yingluck will arrive in Auckland on Thursday on an official visit to New Zealand and Papua New Guinea from March 21 to 25.

Papua New Guinea is rich in natural resources and has the largest economy among the 14 Pacific Island nations.

Ms Yingluck will be the first Thai premier to pay an official visit to the country. She wants to gain the country's trust and give assurances that Thailand's economic and political situation is stable, according to a government spokesman.

Papua New Guinea has emerged as a new market for Thai consumer products. Thailand's main exports to the country are agricultural and fishery products, auto parts, scrap metal, and metal products.

The Thai delegation will sign memorandums of understanding with their Papua New Guinea counterparts on the development of bilateral negotiation channels, academic cooperation, cooperation between chambers of commerce and industrial organisations.

Ms Yingluck will also present to Papua New Guinea premier Peter O'Neill the potential of Thailand and the country's strategic location in the centre of Southeast Asia.

Thailand would seek to benefit from an Interim Economic Partnership Agreement which Papua New Guinea has with the European Union to export processed and cooked seafood to the EU free of tariffs. Products exported from Thailand to the EU face a 24% import tariff.


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