By CHRIS V PANGANIBAN

DOHA: Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has called on the private sector both in his country and Qatar to do a more active and bigger role to strengthen the bilateral relations between both countries.

Vejjajiva made this call to local businessmen during a dinner last night at the Four Seasons Hotel hosted by Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Royal Thai Embassy in Qatar.

The Thai premier has cited the business sector of both countries as the real driver of economies that they need to be deeply engaged if they are to develop their economies.

He said he and Prime Minister and Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani has affirmed their support for more enhanced partnership between the private sectors of both countries.

“I encourage the business sectors of Qatar and Thailand to take advantage of the close cooperation between our governments,” Vejjajiva said. “The role of the governments is to provide support through providing fair, stable and predictable environment for businesses, but the private sector is the one who will drive forward the economy.”

He urged local businessmen to utilise to the fullest the Memorandum of Understanding between the Board of Trade of Thailand and Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry which was signed on Tuesday.

“There are areas where we can share expertise and best practices to enhance the quality of our private sectors and those where we can encourage investments for mutual benefit and prosperity,” Vejjajiva said.

He said there are vast opportunities in Thailand now that it had started to recover from economic crisis. The World Bank’s 2010’s “Ease of Doing Business” report has ranked Thailand to 12th in the world, number two in ASEAN and number 3 in Asia.