Mega-Thaksin talks focus on economic issues

Mega-Thaksin talks focus on economic issues

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP): Indonesian President Megawati
Soekarnoputri focused on economic issues Friday in talks with the
Thai prime minister, and was assured that Thailand would not
allow "terrorists" opposed to Indonesia's government operate from
its territory.

After a four-hour visit to military-run Myanmar, Megawati
arrived in neighboring Thailand on Friday on the latest leg of
her whirlwind tour of nine Southeast Asian countries.

She was greeted at the Royal Thai Air Force base by Foreign
Minister Surakiart Sathirathai as she touched down in her third
country in a single day.

Megawati's eight-day tour, her first overseas trip since
taking the presidency of the world's fourth-most populous country
on July 23, is intended to show that her troubled nation will
again become a prominent force in the region.

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, in one and a-half-hour
of talks late Friday, asked Megawati to consider closer
cooperation in several economic sectors, said Yongyuth
Tiyapairat, the Thai government spokesman.

He said Thaksin suggested their two countries consider
agreements on investment in fish processing.

Thaksin also assured Megawati that he would not let Thailand
be used as a terrorist base, and would not allow any group to use
its land against a neighbor, Yongyuth said.

Thaksin's assurance was inspired by reports that separatists
in the western Indonesian province of Aceh are using southern
Thailand as a base for weapons and other supplies.

Thaksin urged Indonesia to stop a price war with Thailand and
other regional rubber producers, and cut the present surplus in
the market, which has forced prices down to a 30-year low.

A proposed rubber price agreement between Thailand, Malaysia
and Indonesia - the world's leading rubber exporters - is at the
top of the agenda, Yongyuth said.

Thaksin turned down Megawati's request to purchase Indonesian
planes for use by the Agriculture Ministry, he said.

Earlier Friday, Megawati flew from Phnom Penh, Cambodia to
Yangon where she met with Senior Gen. Than Shwe, chief of the
Myanmar regime, and other top generals. No details of the talks
were immediately available.

The two countries enjoyed close ties during the rule of former
Indonesian autocrat Soeharto, a longtime friend of Myanmar
dictator Ne Win, who retired in 1988.

Megawati leaves Thailand on Saturday for Brunei. She will go
on to visit Singapore and Malaysia.

In Cambodia earlier Friday, the Indonesian ambassador
Nazaruddin Nasution told reporters that Prime Minister Hun Sen
and Megawati agreed to facilitate direct trade, using shipping
lines to carry Indonesian and Cambodian products.

Telecommunications, logging and garments are among the areas
of Cambodia's depressed economy that have attracted Indonesian
investment in recent years. But Indonesia ranks far down on the
list of countries investing in Cambodia.

Megawati also made pledges to Cambodian officials that
Indonesia will provide military and police training assistance
and provide more scholarships for Cambodian students.