Courtesy Call on Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda by H.E.Mr. Kittirat Na Ranong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce of the Kingdom of Thailand

On Monday, November 28, commencing at 3:10 p.m. for around 20 minutes, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda received a courtesy call by H.E. Mr. Kittirat Na Ranong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce of the Kingdom of Thailand, who is visiting Japan. The overview of the meeting is as follows. The meeting was also attended by Mr. Tsuyoshi Saito, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, and others on the Japan side.

1. Prime Minister Noda offered his heartfelt condolences regarding the damage caused by flooding in Thailand, and stated that he viewed Thailand’s difficulties as Japan’s difficulties, noting that 46,000 Japanese citizens live in Thailand and it is home to 1,300 members of Japan Chamber of Commerce, Bangkok (JCC). Prime Minister Noda also said that Japan has extended a range of cooperation up to now, but is scheduled to dispatch a survey team in order to reform the master plan on flood countermeasures as early as December.
   
   
2. In response, Deputy Prime Minister Kittirat once again expressed Thailand’s gratitude for Japan’s support and said he hoped Japan and Thailand can work together on rehabilitation and reconstruction. Additionally, he said Thailand wants to recover strongly, bring peace of mind to everyone and promise its citizen that there will not be a repeat of this year’s disaster during the next rainy season.
   
   
3. Prime Minister Noda expressed his gratitude for the government of Thailand’s efforts to respond to issues such as stay permits for personnel and the reduction and exemption of tariffs relating to the equipment needed to allow many Japanese companies to resume operation as soon as possible, and asked for further consideration to be made. In response, Deputy Prime Minister Kittirat said Thailand will listen sincerely to the requests of Japanese companies, toward the resumption of their operations.