Shinawatra: Turkey, Thailnad share 'silk road' vision

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who will be arriving in Turkey this Friday, has said Turkey and Thailand should explore how to develop deeper connections and that the relationship could be enhanced by the two countries' shared vision of a new "Silk Road." Shinawatra's visit will be the first official visit from Thailand at the prime ministry level in eight years. The Thai prime minister spoke to Today's Zaman ahead of her three-day visit to the capital July 5-7 with a delegation of businessmen. She and her Turkish counterpart, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will sign the first Thai-Turkish Action Plan that covers a period through 2018. Like Turkey, Thailand has been growing in spite of the global economic crisis. Turkey is a major contributor to Thailand's tourism sector. In 2012, Thailand's exports to Turkey reached $1.1 billion, while Turkey's reciprocal exports amounted to $243 million. In addition to a shared vision and shared economic goals, the two countries also face similar issues. The Thai government believes in using peaceful measures to solve its problems in the Southern Border Provinces of Thailand (SBP), an effort comparable to Turkey's recent Kurdish initiative. ​Thailand's problem with separatist ethnic Muslim groups in the South, near the Malaysian border, goes back decades. Recently, the country started a dialogue process to resolve the problem and Prime Minister Shinawatra will be speaking with Erdogan about the negotiation process on the Kurdish question. "We are taking many steps to protect the cultural heritage and local identity of the population in the SBP, to promote economic growth and development and to promote the rule of law. Respect for human rights is an important part of our policy, not only in this area but throughout the country and is implemented alongside respect for diversity," Shinawatra told Today's Zaman. She said Turkey and Thailand can pursue closer relations in many areas of mutual interest, such as trade and investment, renewable energy, the Halal food industry, construction and tourism. "We should also use each other's countries as gateways to our respective regions. This will be even more important as ASEAN becomes a Community in 2015 and Thailand will be serving as the region's logistics hub," the prime minister said. Prime Minister Shinawatra said she hoped her visit to Turkey would result in a further boost to ties, especially in terms of economic partnership. "But what I really hope to explore is how to develop greater trans-Asian and Europe-Asia connectivity between our two countries and regions. I understand that Turkey is leading efforts to develop an "Iron Silk Road" while Thailand is seeking to develop a "New Silk Route" linking Southeast Asia with Central Asia and then Turkey. I believe that this shared vision of enhanced connectivity creates great potential for cooperation for the mutual benefit of our regions and peoples," she said.