Thai PM seeks foreign investment to complement fiscal expansion

BANGKOK/TOKYO -- Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin is soliciting foreign investment to help boost Thailand's economy while sticking to an expansive fiscal policy at home to ease public discontent and strengthen his position.

"We hope that Japanese companies will participate in the land bridge project to connect the Gulf of Thailand to the Andaman Sea," Srettha said on Friday at an investment forum in Tokyo. The $28-billion program was initiated by a previous government and is ongoing. The Thai prime minister arrived in Japan the day before for the ASEAN-Japan summit and a bilateral meeting with his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida.