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.