Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai has been assigned by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to visit Saudi Arabia to follow-up on cooperation in all areas between Thailand and Saudi Arabia.

He said today (Sunday) that Don has a mission to wrap up a number of unresolved issues with his Saudi counterpart and to lead a delegation of Thai businessmen to Saudi Arabia.

The prime minister met with Yasir bin Othman Al-Rumayyanthis morning, president of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), who is currently in Thailand to discuss the holding of the 5-nation Women’s Golf Tournament.

He said that that the PIF chairman, who was due to go back to Saudi Arabia, had delayed his return to discuss further cooperation between the two countries and promised to support Thailand on issues agreed upon between the two countries.

The Thai prime minister said that the most important thing about Thailand is that there is peace and stability, noting that Thailand is in an ideal location and is a hub in ASEAN. He said he would like to see Thailand become a venue forinternational and regional conferences to settle problems.

Relations between Thailand and Saudi Arabia have been improving steadily since the two countries normalised diplomatic relations, after the official visit to Riyadh by Prime Minister Prayut in January. This had followed more than three decades of relationships soured by the Blue Diamond affair, in which a Thai worker stole jewellery, including the priceless Blue Diamond, from a Saudi palace.

Saudia, the national airline, has resumed flights to Thailand and skilled Thai workers will again be allowed to work in Saudi Arabia.