Dr. Somkid Jatusripitak, Deputy Prime Minister in Charge of Economic Affairs of Thailand, arrived in Sri Lanka on 8^th March for an official visit, at the invitation of Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera. The visit is a follow up to the visit of President Maithripala Sirisena to Thailand in November 2015.

During the visit, the Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mangala Samaraweera will hold bilateral discussions on 9^th March focusing on enhancing economic and trade relations between the two countries. The discussions will be followed by the signing of a MoU on Technical Cooperation, and a Joint Action Programme for the implementation of the MoU on Bilateral Cooperation in the area of Tourism. An exchange of a Letter of Intent (LOI) between the Department of Industrial Promotion of the Ministry of Industry of Thailand and Industrial Development Board of Sri Lanka for enhancing cooperation in the field of industrial development is also scheduled to take place during the bilateral discussions.

On 10^th March, Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak will participate in a bilateral meeting on economic cooperation which will be co-chaired by Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade, Malik Samarawickrama. A Business Forum and a business-match making session organized by the Office of International Trade Promotion of Thailand in Chennai in association with the Export Development Board of Sri Lanka will also take place during the visit.

The Deputy Prime Minister will pay courtesy calls on   President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. He is also scheduled to visit Buddhist religious and heritage sites including Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara, Kandy and Anuradhapura, with a view to promoting Buddhist tourism among Thai nationals.

The Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand is scheduled to leave Sri Lanka on 12^th March.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Colombo

9 March 2016