BANGKOK, 21 March 2013 (NNT)-Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra left for New Zealand today on an official visit to boost bilateral trade and investment, after which she will continue her trip to the Independent State of Papua New Guinea before returning to Thailand on March 25.

Speaking prior to her departure, Prime Minister Yingluck said she was determined to boost foreign confidence in Thailand’s political and economic stability, its leading roles in ASEAN and bilateral cooperation with those two countries. In New Zealand, Ms. Yingluck will be granted an honorary doctoral degree from Auckland University of Technology, for her becoming the first Thai female Prime Minister to visit that country.

Ms. Yingluck will also be the first Thai leader to visit the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, at the invitation of Papua New Guinean counterpart Peter O’Niel. The country is Thailand’s no.1 trading partner in the South Pacific and is eyed as prospective market of raw materials due to its abundant natural resources, be it forests, oil or marine lives.

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