Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin will pay a five-day visit to Japan on December 14-18 that will include scheduled meetings with the Japanese and Asean leaders as well as leading private sectors, according to a highly placed source.

The prime minister is scheduled to attend the Asean-Japan Summit in Tokyo, scheduled on December 16-18, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic ties. All Asean leaders, except Myanmar, have been invited and will attend the special summit, which will be hosted by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

The source said that Srettha will leave for Japan on December 14, two days ahead of the summit to promote investment and trade with Japan.

The Srettha government has been pursuing the so-called proactive economic diplomacy to attract foreign investment and increase trade volumes.

Ahead of the summit, he is scheduled to make a series of speeches and roadshows as well as meet up with the top executives from leading Japanese companies.
During the Asean-Japan summit, Japan is looking forward to strengthening its strategic partnership with Asean. Japan will be accorded the bloc’s comprehensive strategic partner (CSP). Asean currently has four CSP countries namely, China, Australia, India, and the US.

Japan is preparing a new vision statement and action plans for the future Asean-Japan cooperation, which will be announced on December 18, according to the source.