His Excellency the President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau today received a courtesy call from the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand, H.E General Thanasak Patimapragorn, at Government House.
General Thanasak is in Fiji as Chief Guest at the 3rd Summit of the Pacific Islands Development Forum (PIDF), which formally gets underway in Suva tomorrow.
The Deputy Prime Minister met with the Head of the State on the margins of the 3rd Pacific Islands Development Forum Summit, which comes at a time when Pacific leaders are lobbying larger Western nations to agree on binding cuts in carbon emissions to fight global warming.
While at the PIDF Summit, General Thanasak will be one of the key speakers for the plenary sessions tomorrow.
Prior to his appointment, General Thanasak served as the Chief of Defence Forces in the Royal Thai Armed Forces.
He was recently bestowed with the most Exalted Order of Paduka Keberanian Laila Terbilang Yang Amat Gemilang Darjah Pertama (DPKT) from His Majesty the Sultan and Yang DiPertuan of Brunei Darussalam.
General Thanasak was a member of the Committee of Counter International Terrorism (COCIT) from 2011 to 2014.
Thailand and Fiji have enjoyed cordial bilateral relations in areas such as trade, investment and technical cooperation since establishing diplomatic ties on 15 December, 1972.