Thai PM leaves for UN meeting

BANGKOK, September 23 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra left Bangkok before dawn Sunday for the 67th annual session of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York. Her delegation saw Finance Minister Kittirat Na-Ranong, Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul, and Suranand Vejjajiva, secretary-general to the prime minister. Miss Yingluck told reporters before leaving Bangkok that she would join more than 190 government leaders at the meeting in discussing the world’s problems, especially on security issues. She said she would also meet with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to work on ways to develop the quality of life of women and children, as well as the public health system. While in the U.S., Miss Yingluck said she would deliver a speech on the ‘State of Thai Economy,’ in which she hopes to create more confidence among foreign investors towards Thai economy and capital market. The prime minister said she would also confer with Myanmar President Thein Sein on bilateral trade and investment as well as on the development on the construction of the Tavoy deep sea port. Meanwhile, Thai Defence Minister Air Chief Marshal Sukumpol Suwanatat is scheduled to pay a three-day official visit, starting this Tuesday, to Vietnam for talks with his counterpart General Phung Quang Thanh. A source with the Thai Defence Ministry said the two ministers would also seek a joint defense cooperation plan, to bolster ties between their countries’ armed forces. (TNA)