Thai, Australian PMs hold bilateral talks

PHNOM PENH, November 20 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra held a bilateral discussion with her Australian counterpart Julia Gillard in Phnom Penh on Tuesday to strengthen two-way trade and investment between Thailand and Australia. After the meeting, held on the sidelines of the 21st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in the Cambodian capital, Yingluck told TNA that her talks with her Australian counterpart focused on the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Bangkok and Canberra. Yingluck said that she and her Australian counterpart agreed to strengthen bilateral relations in all areas, including trade, investment and tourism, acknowledging that two-way trade between Thailand and Australia has kept rising, thanks to the concluded Thai-Australian Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The Thai prime minister noted that her Australian counterpart, however, expressed her worries over Australian exports to Thailand, but the Thai side believed a solution beneficial to both Bangkok and Canberra would later be worked out. According to the Thai premier, both sides also showed interests in student exchanges and joint research projects and discussed key regional issues, including attempts on reducing the development gap between ASEAN and China, solutions to territorial disputes in the South China Sea and support for the development of democracy in Myanmar. (TNA)