Thai PM to visit Hong Kong early next week

BANGKOK - Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will leave for Hong Kong and meet with Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Chief Executive CY Leung early next week.

The Thai prime minister is scheduled to visit Hong Kong on Feb 25 and 26. During the visit she will discuss bilateral trade, investment and economic matters with the Hong Kong chief executive and leading businesspersons, according to officials of the Thai Government House.

Thailand plans to become a Connectivity Hub to link the Southeast Asian region with Hong Kong, viewed as Asia's biggest monetary market and one of the world's largest logistics centers. And the country will join the ASEAN bloc to become an ASEAN Economic Community in 2015.

In addition to her meeting with the Hong Kong chief executive, the Thai prime minister will also hold talks with high-level officials of Hong Kong banks, investment firms and tour agencies.

One day ahead of the Hong Kong trip, Yingluck is scheduled to visit South Korea on Sunday to attend a sworn-in ceremony for President-elect Park Geun-hye. Yingluck will also meet with South Korea's outgoing president Lee Myung-bak in Seoul.

The new South Korean president will be invited to join a summit among leaders of the Asia-Pacific region on water resource administration in Bangkok in May, the Government House officials added. Severely affected by flooding in 2011, Thailand has planned to develop water administration and anti-flooding systems in sustainable fashion.