Thai PM attends APEC 2013 in Bali

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BANGKOK, Oct 6 – Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra left Bangkok today for the 21st APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Bali, Indonesia and will also meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the summit.

The Thai premier will attend the three-day summit in the Indonesian island resort which is being held under the theme “Resilient Asia-Pacific, Engine of Global Growth”

APEC 2013 would seek to ensure that Asia-Pacific maintains its robust economic growth and resilience, and is able to swiftly recover from shocks and contagions from other regions.

This theme is further translated into three priorities: the attainment of the Bogor Goals, the achievement of sustainable growth with equity, and the promotion of connectivity.

Ms Yingluck said before her departure that Thailand will present its Bt2 trillion infrastructure investment which will promote regional connectivity within five to seven years. The development of the Dawei deep sea port is an example of Thailand’s efforts to connect itself to neighbours, while Myanmar also discusses land linkage with India. This means that Thailand could soon connect to India via Myanmar.

She said Thailand hopes every other country will also quickly seek to provide more connectivity channels.

On this occasion, the premier said she will meet with leading CEOs from several countries in order to answer their questions and build more confidence among them to invest in the kingdom.

Ms Yingluck said she will hold a bilateral talk with Chinese President Xi Jingping focusing on continued cooperation between the two countries, as well as inviting the Chinese leader to officially visit Thailand.

After APEC Summit, Ms Yingluck was also scheduled to attend the 23rd ASEAN Summit held in Brunei during October 9-10.