In his speech to the Japan National Press Club yesterday in Tokyo, he said the signing of Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement (JTEPA) came at the time when both countries are celebrating the 120th anniversary of the establishment of formal diplomatic relations.

"For Thailand, our relations with Japan are of the greatest strategic importance and the signing today of JTEPA, which can be described as an "FTA Plus", underscores the fact that this view is shared by both countries," he told the club.

JTEPA will establish the foundations for a new era of intensified and sustainable friendship and partnership. In 2006 Japan-Thailand bilateral trade amounted to nearly US$42 billion with Japan being Thailand's second largest export market and leading source of imports. In the same year Japan was also the largest foreign investor in Thailand. In fact, such is the scale of Japan's business presence in Thailand that until a few years ago Thailand was host to the largest overseas Japanese Chamber of Commerce in the world.

While JTEPA's benefits dominated one third of the speech, Surayud spent the remaining time updating the Japanese press club on the political development in Thailand after the coup. He also vowed to fight against corruption and embarked on a series of major reforms.

In his speech, he also referred to ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's recent interview in Time Magazine that "corruption in Thailand won't go away, it's in the system". 

"If I thought that was true I wouldn't be here today. Without the rule of law nothing else matters.  There can be no justice, no equality and certainly no democracy. My Interim Government has been criticized for the slow progress being made into the allegations of corruption and abuse of state power by members of the previous government.  Some people have urged the use of executive power to short circuit the judicial process.  But if we adopt that approach, how will the rule of law ever be strengthened?

"Concrete results are being produced from the investigations and I will continue to place my confidence in the integrity of our judicial system.  At the same time, we are working hard to overhaul this system as it relates to transparency and good governance in the public sector, and embarking on the most radical reform of the police for many decades."

The Nation