Pagan, Nov 13: A historic moment in sub-regional cooperation has been marked, with Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's signing of the Pagan Accord with his counterparts from Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, while Thailand's Energy Minister signed four separate pacts on energy cooperation. The Pagan Accord, which had been thrashed out at ministerial level over the past few days, and which was approved by foreign ministers of the four nations on Tuesday, was signed in the former Myanmar capital of Pagan yesterday morning by Prime Minister Thaksin and his counterparts from the three neighbouring countries in the economic cooperation strategy (ECS) grouping.
The signing of the Pagan Accord was followed by the signing of two agreements on petroleum surveys and production between Thailand and Myanmar, as well as the ratification of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Thailand and Myanmar on the use of natural gas.
Other energy cooperation agreements were also signed between Thailand, represented by Energy Minister Prommin Lertsuridej, and Cambodia and Laos.
In addition, ministers from Thailand and Cambodia put their names to the minutes of discussions between Cambodia's Ministry of Commerce and the industrial estate authority of Thailand (IEAT), and the minutes of discussions between IEAT and Myanmar's industrial development committee. Bureau Report