Pakistani PM begins Thailand visit on Sunday

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is scheduled to pay a three-day official visit to Thailand on Sunday, the PM office said. The Prime Minister is proceeding to Bangkok from Colombo after attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). During his visit to Thailand, the Prime Minister will address the inaugural session of Connect Asia Pacific Summit 2013 in Bangkok on Monday. Connect Asia Pacific Summit is being jointly organized by Thailand and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The summit will also be attended by the Presidents of Mongolia and Rwanda and Prime Ministers of New Zealand, Cambodia and Togo. Executive Secretary of United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), Ms. Noeleen Heyzer, will call on Nawaz Sharif during his visit. He will hold meeting with Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on bilateral and regional matters. The visit, which follows the visit of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to Pakistan in August this year, is indicative of the close Pakistan-Thailand relations and the desire on part of the leadership of two countries to take these relations to new heights, the Foreign Ministry says. The Prime Minister will also attend a Luncheon Meeting with prominent Thai and Pakistani businessmen.