His Majesty king Abdullah II concluded on Tuesday an Asian tour that included South Korea, China, Hong Kong and Thailand.



His Majesty and the Thai Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra held talks in Bangkok today that covered mechanisms of enhancing cooperation between Jordan and Thailand in the fields of investment, trade and cultural and tourism exchange.



The two sides also agreed to take practical steps to promote ties in all fields, foremost of which is the establishment of a joint Jordanian-Thai committee headed by the two countries' foreign ministers to discuss and promote bilateral cooperation.



The first meeting of the joint committee will be held in the near future to discuss means of enhancing bilateral cooperation. Delegations from the two countries will also exchange visits to examine prospects of joint cooperation.



The King and the Thai premier also reviewed aspects from which the private sector of both countries could benefit with a view to establish joint cooperation.



King Abdullah praised the level of cooperation between Jordan and Thailand, which developed over the past few years. Trade exchange between the two countries stood at $65 million in 2003 compared to $48 million in 2002.



His Majesty expressed Jordan's willingness to benefit from the Thai expertise in developing local communities, which enabled it to achieve self dependence and develop the national economy.



During the meeting which was attended by His Royal Highness Prince Hashem Bin Al Hussein, the King's media Advisor Ali Al Fazaa', Planning and International Cooperation Minister Dr. Basim Awadallah and Jordan's ambassador to Thailand Nabil Talhoni, the two sides discussed developments in the Middle East.



His Majesty briefed the Thai prime minister on efforts being exerted by Jordan with the international community to achieve stability in the Middle East, especially the King's efforts to push the peace process forward, accelerate the process of reconstruction in Iraq and support peace and stability in it.



The Thai prime minister for his part, commended the role played by His Majesty King Abdullah to establish peace and security in the region.



He expressed admiration of the policy adopted by the King whether with regard to providing a climate of security, stability and peace for the Middle East peoples, or with regard to making Jordan a model for development, reform and openness.



He said that the King's visit to Thailand came at the right time in which "we are in
need of a country like Jordan to be a strategic partner".



The two countries signed an a cooperation agreement in the presence of His
Majesty and the Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.



Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Bassim Awadallah who signed the
agreement on behalf of the Jordanian government said that the agreement aims at
enhancing cooperation in the tourism, industry, trade, agricultural, youth and sports
fields.



Within his keenness to promote Jordan's economy and brief Asian investors on
opportunities provided by the Jordanian economy, His Majesty met in Bangkok today
with directors and major Thai companies and representatives of the private sector in
Thailand.



The King reviewed progress achieved by Jordan over the past few years, indicating
that Jordan adopted the economic reform principles that enabled it to achieve
openness to the world economy as well as economic growth.



"Despite the scarcity of our natural resources, we have qualified manpower and
Jordanian graduates are the best on the regional level," he added.



His Majesty said that the policy of reform and economic openness as well as
credibility that Jordan enjoys of the international level, enabled Jordan to sign free
trade agreements with the United States, Europe and most Arab countries.



King Abdullah called on Thai companies to benefit from these agreements through
establishing investment projects in the qualified industrial zones, which export most
of their products to the US market.



His Majesty also called on Thai investors to benefit from Jordan's unique location
with respect to Iraq.



During his Asian tour which he concluded today, His Majesty met with the Chinese
and Korean governments as well as the governor general of Hong Kong. He also
reviewed with leaders of these countries the political situation in the region especially
on the Palestinian and Iraqi fronts, as well as ways of restoring stability to the region
and to its peoples within international legitimacy resolutions.



The King affirmed during the meetings Jordan's keenness to develop economic ties
with Asia in general, and countries of East Asia in particular.



He expressed Jordan's readiness to provide all support to companies from these
countries that are willing to take part in projects of reconstructing Iraq.



During the Royal visit to Korea, the Jordanian government signed a grant agreement
with the Korean government under which the Korean government will provide $5
million to support developmental projects in the Kingdom.



The Jordanian government also signed in the presence of His Majesty and the
Chinese leader a grant agreement under which the Chinese government will provide a $7.2 million to finance the government's development plan for the coming two years.



A $24 million grant agreement was also signed to finance projects that will be implemented by the government over the coming years.



In Hong Kong, the King praised its expertise in attracting foreign investments and expressed Jordan's willingness to benefit from Hong Kong's experience in these fields.