PM:Thailand supports AEC

BANGKOK, April 3 (TNA) - Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has announced that Thailand supports Cambodia's chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) this year, as well as the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015 and the practical implementation of the ASEAN's three pillars. At the 20th ASEAN Summit, being held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital, Yingluck made the pledges Tuesday morning and insisted on the Thai government's policy on holding talks with countries which have inked free trade agreements (FTA) with ASEAN within this year, as part of the ASEAN three pillars, economic, political-security and socio-cultural, and proposing narcotics-free and ways to eradicate haze-related problems in the 10-nation ASEAN bloc. Yingluck said Thailand also supports the ASEAN Security Community and will request countries which have nuclear weapons to sign nuclear-free in Southeast Asia within this year and to eradicate drugs in the region. The Thai premier called on reducing the gap between developed and developing countries in the region as well, through building security and growth for the AEC, and proposed that scientific and innovative technology be used and shared among the ASEAN members in coping with natural disasters and water management across the border. The Thai prime minister then attended a luncheon party for ASEAN leaders hosted by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and is scheduled to later hold talks with representatives of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, followed by a meeting with public social agencies. Premier Yingluck is also scheduled to have an audience with Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni Tuesday evening and to attend a dinner party hosted by the Cambodian monarch in honour of the ASEAN government leaders and their spouses. (TNA)