Thailand to sign 4 deals with Lanka

Thailand and Sri Lanka will sign four agreements to strengthen relations between the two countries during Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s visit to Colombo, the Bangkok Post reported.

The three-day visit begins on Friday. The four deals include cooperation on tourism as well as science and technology, a sister cities partnership between Kandy and Ayutthaya and a visa exemption for officials and diplomatic passport holders.

Thai ambassador to Colombo, Poldej Worachat, told the Bangkok Post Ms Yingluck would be accompanied by a group of businessmen who will be introduced to investment prospects in Sri Lanka.

Ms Yingluck will pay an official visit to Colombo and Kandy during the trip, he said. The premier would speak about the 57-year-long diplomatic relationship between Thailand and Sri Lanka in an address to its parliament.

The speech would promote cooperation among private businesses in the agricultural and fishery industries and would touch on the 260th anniversary of Siam Wong Nikaya, a prominent Thai-Buddhist sect in Sri Lanka.

The government in Colombo would provide a helicopter for Ms Yingluck and several ministers to travel to Kandy to chair a Buddhist ordination ceremony to celebrate the anniversary.