PRIME MINISTER SHINAWATRA: Ladies and gentlemen of the media, let me start by once again welcoming President Barack Obama and his delegation to Thailand.
Thailand is the first country President Obama chose to visit following with his decisive reelection less than two weeks ago. We appreciate the significance of the gesture, Mr. President. And we all thank you for being here today.
President Obama’s visit is the perfect occasion to launch a celebration of 180th anniversary of Thai-U.S. diplomatic relations next year. I thank both President Obama and Secretary Clinton for actively promote Thai-U.S. relations and for the United States’ constructive engagement in Asia.
This afternoon I had the honor of accompanying the President for an audience with His Majesty the King, reflecting the close relationship between our two countries at the highest level.
Lastly, at the bilateral meetings, we had productive and wide-ranging discussions, and mostly of friendly partnership. Thailand is the oldest treaty ally of the U.S. in Asia, and a long-lasting one because of our shared commitment to democracy, human rights, and free markets.
I expressed to the President that it is my firm commitment to the people to preserve and protect democratic systems, and I appreciate the President’s support of democracy in Thailand. And I agree with him that democracy will lead to economic process, as we agree that celebrating -- success is not enough. We look to the future and to build an even stronger strategic partnership that benefit both countries and indeed the broader regions, ASEAN and Asia Pacific.
On the economic front, to generate growth and create jobs for both Thai and Americans, the President and I agree to redouble our effort to promote trade and investment and people-to-people exchanges. We will also strengthen our cooperation in energy and food securities. Furthermore, we agree that Thailand is a strategic location and a hub for ASEAN connectivities and the ASEAN economic communities, AEC. We will work together to make the regions an engine of growth, contributing toward global economic stability and sustainabilities.
Within this context, I informed the President that Thailand will initiate negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, which will engage all stakeholders and undertake the necessary domestic legislative process to make it become a reality.
The President and I had wide-ranging discussions about regional issues, and I welcome his upcoming historic visit to Myanmar and Cambodia. We welcome the United States bringing new focus on Southeast Asia, and believe our bilateral partnership can help contribute to regional peace, securities, and prosperities.
But our cooperation goes beyond the region. At the global level, Thailand is concerned with the trade of weapons of mass destruction, or WMD. Therefore, I informed the President that Thailand will join the Proliferation Security Initiative, or PSI. We believe that PSI will help to win WMD from falling into the wrong hands, which is in the shared interest of all.
The President and I also discussed on how to tackle transnational crimes, and in particular, human trafficking. I reaffirmed my commitment to fight human trafficking, which equals to modern slavery. We also discussed cooperation on combatting terrorism and how to deal with the climate change issue, especially in the term of disaster relief.
Finally, we recognized the importance of continued high-level exchange and consultations between our two countries. As part of our growing partnership, the President and I agree to stay in close touch and to have our minister and agency to do the same on the rich agenda we discussed today.
Thank you for your time.