Japanese minister meets Thai PM

BANGKOK, May 4 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra received Shozaburo Jimi, Japan’s State Minister in charge of financial and postal issues at Bangkok's Government House on Friday, during with the Thai leader praised Tokyo for having promoted bilateral relations with Thailand and kindly extending assistance to Thailand during a flooding crisis late last year. Yingluck briefed Jimi of the updated situation, saying that dykes are being improved, among others, to protect local industrial estates from any repeated flood and her government has raised a flood insurance fund to restore confidence among local people and business operators. The visiting Japanese minister, on the other hand, expressed his appreciation to the Thai government's attempts to cope with disasters, proposing that Thailand and Japan keep developing more businesses jointly and acknowledging that Japanese financial institutes and business firms want to open more branches and to invest in infrastructure projects in Thailand, including high-speed mass rail transit systems. Meanwhile, Yingluck also received Dr. Amal Mussa Hussain Ali Al-Rubaye, the newly appointed and Kuala Lumpur-based Iraqi ambassador to Thailand at the Government House, during which she mentioned that Thailand and Iraq have developed sound bilateral ties for a long time and Thailand is ready to further expand bilateral cooperation with Baghdad, especially on trade and investment, and to boost exports to the Iraqi market, including rice and automotive parts. The Iraqi ambassador thanked the Thai premier for the moves, acknowledging that the situation in Iraq has returned to normal and Baghdad will soon reopen its embassy in Thailand and the Thai embassy in Iraq. (TNA)