Thai., Japan hail economic partnership

Thai and Japanese Prime Ministers have stressed the importance of the economic partnership between the two nations as both countries agreed to target boosting the value of their trade to hit US$100 billion by 2017. The Thai premier Yingluck Shinawatra and her Japanese counterpart Yoshihiko Noda jointly attended the full plenary of the bilateral meeting of Thai and Japanese delegates, according to Thailand\'s (MCOT online news). Yingluck assured the Japanese business community that the Thai government would do its best with every effort so that she is confident that the government\'s measures guarantee that severe floods will not happen again like last year. The Thai prime minister reiterated that her government cares for the sufferings faced by the Japanese companies affected by the floods and has implemented measures to address the needs of the Japanese companies to restore their production capacity. Yingluck said Thailand and Japan have enjoyed a close relationship long standing for over one century. This relationship is one of compassion, warmth and mutual benefit between the peoples of the two nations. This is seen in the fact that the people of both countries have offered both assistance and moral support to each other in times of natural disasters in the past year. The business sectors of both countries have an important role to play in building this close relationship and bond. This was the driving force that has made Thailand and Japan develop the economic partnership and promoted mutual benefits until the present. The Thai government is therefore determined to support this strategic economic partnership to continue its progress as agreed in the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement (JTEPA). The Thai premier said that both countries have agreed to expand trade value to hit the target of US$100 billion by 2017.