Aquino, Thai PM talk trade and security Friday, 20 January 2012 03:31

Philippine President Benigno Aquino stand beside Thailand Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra (left) as the Philippine national anthem is played at the Malacanang palace in Manila yesterday.

MANILA: Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday arrived here for a one-day official visit to the Philippines, Thai News Agency reported.

This is her eighth overseas trip to the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) since she took office last August.

The Manila visit is aimed at introducing the Thai premier to one more Association of Southeast Asian Nations member country and boosting ties between the two countries.

During the visit, Yingluck is expected to hold one-on-one talks with Philippine President Benigno Aquino III before delegations from the two nations meet for a plenary session.

Yingluck told reporters before the visit that she and President Aquino will discuss trade and investment particularly in agricultural exports such as vegetables, fruit, and meats that Thailand wants to export more, in terms of volume and categories.

The premier will also focus on resolving double taxation issues to benefit the Thai business community who invested in the Philippines. Energy cooperation was also on the agenda. Moreover, Yingluck said she would take this opportunity to explore the opportunity to export more rice to the Philippines and expressed the belief that the visit could help strengthen bilateral cooperation in other fields, including education.

In Malacanang, Shinawatra held talks with Aquino to discuss ways to further strengthen the implementation of existing cooperation in the areas of energy, agriculture, defense, culture, education, combating drug trafficking, and disaster risk reduction and management.

“Prime Minister Shinawatra and I agreed to continue working toward enhancing our countries’ excellent partnership and productive engagement both in the bilateral and multilateral arena,” Aquino said in his speech.

“We both look forward to Manila’s hosting of the 5th Meeting of the Philippines-Thailand Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC)”.

Shinawatra-Noynoy a good match, twits Kris Aquino

MANILA: The President’s sister Kris Aquino seems to approve of a love match between President Benigno S. Aquino III and Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, local media said.

Manila Bulletin reported that Kris Aquino, youngest sister of President Aquino, said she likes the Thai leader for her brother, who remains a bachelor at 51 years old.

Shinawatra was in the country yesterday for her first official state visit to the Philippines since winning the Thai elections last year.

In her Twitter account, Kris Aquino said Shinawatra is a good match for her brother. Kris Aquino attended the luncheon in Malacañang yesterday in honour of Shinawatra. Kris Aquino also tweeted: “Came from Malacañang. Lunch for Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. She’s tall and slim and attractive! Forty-four years old, bagay (good match) for PNoy!”

Yingluck Shinawatra, the 26th Prime Minister of Thailand, is also the first female Prime Minister of the country as well as the youngest Prime Minister in 60 years.

Just before Christmas, President Aquino had admitted that his love life remains “zero,” recalling a popular softdrinks variant.  Aquino has been linked to several women starting off with his former girlfriend, Valenzuela Councilor Shalani Soledad, who will be married this Sunday to Pasig Rep. Roman Romulo; stylist Liz Uy, stock broker Len Lopez, teacher Bunny Calica, and Filipino-Korean television host Grace Lee.                   

Agencies

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