Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will pay an official visit to Thailand from January 17-18. He will meet with Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to discuss bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

Mr Abe’s trip to Thailand will be the first official visit of Japanese leaders in eleven years after PM Junichiro Koizumi’s trip in 2002. The Japanese PM and his counterpart Yingluck will hold talks on international ties and exchange views on Thai-Japanese strategic partnership promotion based on their diplomatic ties which dated back over 125 years.

The Thai and Japanese leaders will also discuss guidelines to create prosperity, pace and sustainable development in the region through the ASEAN-Japan cooperation framework. Other issues on the agenda include other regional cooperation with a focus on integration and the ASEAN Economic Community.

The two countries celebrate the 40th anniversary of their partnership relations this year./.VNA