Statement

by
H.E. Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand
at the Joint Press Conference on the Meeting with
H.E. Benigno S. Aquino III, President of the Republic of the Philippines
19 January 2012. Manila
-------------------------

Mr. President, Distinguished Members of the Media,

I wish to express my appreciation to His Excellency President Aquino III and the Government and people of the Philippines for the warm welcome extended to me and my delegation during this visit.

This visit further enhances the close and cordial relations between our two countries, that are fellow ASEAN Member States with shared values of democracy and rule of law. I am pleased to inform you that the President and I had fruitful and wide-ranging discussions on many matters of mutual interest as well as regional and global issues.

I expressed my appreciation for the kind assistance from the Government of the Philippines and Philippine Airlines to the victims of the floods in Thailand last year. These floods remind us that we must work closely together to protect our peoples from natural disasters.

I also congratulated the President on the success of the anti-corruption policy under his leadership. Thailand is ready to render support to Thai investors who wish to invest in the Philippines under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Programme.

On bilateral issues, the President and I are satisfied with the results of the Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC), the progress on setting up the Energy Forum, and cooperation on education and narcotics prevention and transnational crimes. We are pleased that the draft Convention on the Avoidance of the Double Taxation and the Prevention of the Fiscal Evasion with the Respect to Taxes and Income is expected to be signed at the next meeting of the Joint Commission.

Thailand appreciates the Philippines' kind support for Thai investors and willingness to remove some restrictions on trade and investment. Thailand is also ready to export more rice to the Philippines as part of cooperation for food security.

Both our two countries reaffirmed our commitment to the ASEAN Community in 2015 and to promote connectivity in the region. Together, we hope to create an ASEAN Community that is people-centered, central to the regional architecture and plays an important role in global affairs.

Lastly, to ensure concrete outcomes, I have assigned the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand and the Ambassador of Thailand to the Philippines to follow up on our discussion today.

Thank you very much for your kind attention.