Thai PM Satisfied With Visit To China

CHINA, April 19 (TNA) - Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has expressed her satisfaction with her official visit to China, from April 17-19, and planned to apply in Thailand lessons learned from China on water management and to set up a new water ministry. Concluding the three-day official trip to China, Yingluck told journalists Thursday that she met many high-ranking Chinese authorities and visited the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters under China’s Ministry of Water Resources, where she obtained useful information which should be applied in Thailand. Yingluck said that her government has been moving in the right direction toward flood prevention, covering the establishment of a national committee on water and flood policies to centralize water management as China has done. Regarding legislation to support Thailand's comprehensive water management and possibility of establishing a new water ministry, Yingluck affirmed that it will be certainly established in the future for the sake of immediate solutions under a single command for national water management, rather than as many as 17 ministries tasked with water affairs currently. After the interview, the Thai prime minister left Beijing for Japan to attend the 4th Mekong-Japan Summit in Tokyo, scheduled for April 19-22. (TNA)