Speech by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe at the banquet in honour of Prime Minister of the Royal Kingdom of Thailand Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra in Colombo on August 14.

I consider it a great privilege and honour to be able to welcome Your Excellency and your distinguished delegation from Thailand. This visit is a first of a Prime Minister of Thailand to Sri Lanka. Your visit therefore marks an important milestone in the close and cordial relations between our two countries.

Excellency, our close relations are steeped in history based on Theravada Buddhism and the contact between the Sangha of our two countries. Our relations go back to the liberation of the Thai and the founding of the Kingdom of Sukothai, when the kings promoted the Mahavihara School of Theravada Buddhism in Sukothai. At that time many of your monks were reordained in the Mahavihara sect.

Our history also records that a Thai prince who became a monk, Mahathera Sri Sradharaja Chulamani Sri Ratnalanka Deepa Mahasami, who travelled to Sri Lanka and lived at Dimbulagala, played an important role in fostering Sri Lanka-Thai links. He brought back craftsmen and artists from Sri Lanka who introduced new styles of buildings to Sukothai. Thus the blessings of the Mahavihara sect. are the common heritage of our two peoples.

Centuries later, Thai monks from Ayodhya led by Venerable Upali regenerated Buddhism in Sri Lanka by ordaining the Venerable Welivita Saranankara who became the Sangaraja. Many other leading monks from our country too received their higher ordination at the time. Last July we celebrated the 250th anniversary of that momentous event.

On an occasion such as this, we also recall the role played by His Majesty Rama V in reviving Buddhism through his patronage of Oriental Studies in the 19th century, including the generous provision of financial support for the translation of the Buddhist texts and the restoration of several ancient dagobas.

With this long tradition of mutual support and friendship the offer of Your Royal Government to host the first round of the peace talks with the LTTE last year in Bangkok came as no surprise. We value very much your unwavering support of our peace process which is expected to resume next month after a brief interlude, not uncommon in such complex undertakings. We will now be addressing the central issues which will move us towards the agreed upon goal of a durable peace based on respect of the rights of all our people within a united nation.

I must also thank you Your Excellency for the continuing support you are giving our country through the Technical Cooperation Programme which covers several areas of importance to our economy. This includes humanitarian relief and reconstruction work in the North-East agriculture, fisheries, education, tourism, energy and rural community development.

The Government and people of Sri Lanka are deeply impressed by the achievements Thailand has made under your able leadership. You have been the architect of a new style of governance so essential for the rapid economic development of your country. With your guidance the Thai economy has registered an impressive growth last year in an external environment elsewhere of economic stagnation or regression. You have achieved marked success in modernising the rural economy and through the extension of social welfare services improved the living conditions of the poor and reduced the rural - urban divide. Your strategies have produced development dividends for the people of Thailand that are clearly visible.

We have also observed your policies of addressing problems common to many of our countries like drugs and other trans-national crimes and would like to commend you for your creative approach. We have no doubt that under your energetic leadership, Thailand will progress in all spheres of development and ensure continuity of your strategic direction well into the future.

The economies of our two countries are poised for a period of sustained economic growth. With the ceasefire and the onset of peace Sri Lanka is undertaking further deep economic reforms for rapid development and job creation. Our aim is to make Sri Lanka a regional centre for a whole range of services. The "Regaining Sri Lanka" policy framework enshrines our objectives. I am therefore particularly gratified that Your Excellency and I will witness tomorrow the signing of a joint economic and business activities programme by our two Foreign Ministers.

This programme, under the auspices of the Thai-Sri Lanka bilateral Joint Commission will strengthen cooperation between our private sector entrepreneurs. The establishment of a Joint Working Group to conduct a study, is another important step in moving towards a Free Trade Agreement between the two countries.

The initiative you took soon after your assumption of office as Prime Minister in promoting and establishing the Asian Cooperation dialogue, to consolidate the strength of Asia, merits the warmest commendation.

The initiative you took soon after your assumption of office as Prime Minister in promoting and establishing the Asian Cooperation dialogue, to consolidate the strength of Asia, merits the warmest commendation.

I am also of the conviction that the development of strong Asian economies in the coming few decades will radically restructure the world economy. Therefore I feel that it is essential for our two countries to establish the closest economic relationships.

In this context I must express my personal appreciation to Your Excellency and to the Royal Thai Government for supporting my proposal to convene the next BIMST-EC meeting at the summit level. While we face many challenges in our pursuit to build a more prosperous and stronger nation, formidable tasks need to be addressed today as our external world changes with unprecedented rapidity.

We in our region could and should collectively articulate and add our voice in support of the basic principles of the international system and the need to maintain international peace and security which is the foundation for cooperation and the socio-economic development of all states.

In the last two years the interaction between our two countries has increased. This visit has brought as closer. We must build on this. We must continue to have regular consultations on political and economic affairs.

Thus our close association nurtured on culture will be further strengthened and brought nearer by strong political and economic relationships.

I wish you a most enjoyable and productive stay in our country, however brief it may be. Your visit enriches our bilateral ties and I look forward to working together with you in building an atmosphere of concern for each other and joy in our common success. I would now like to invite you to join me in proposing a toast:

To the health, well-being and long life of His Majesty the King and Queen of Thailand,

To His Excellency the Prime Minister of Thailand,

To the enduring friendship between Sri Lanka and Thailand,

And to the peace and prosperity of the people of Thailand.