Kazakhstan support Surakiart for UN top post : Thaksin
Kazakhstan has expressed support for Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai to replace outgoing United Nations (UN) chief Kofi Annan, caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinwatra said.
Thaksin said Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev gave his backing at the Conference on Interaction and ConfidenceBuilding Measures in Asia (CICA).The caretaker premier was in the Central Asian nation to attend the twoday second summit of CICA which ended yesterday. "The Kazakh president told me that his country would support Khun Surakiart becoming the next UN secretarygeneral. The country also asked that Thailand support its bid to be a member of the ASEAN Regional Forum, which is part of ASEAN as well as the World Trade Organisation," Thaksin said. Kofi Annan is finishing his second term as UN chief in September. Four Asian countries have nominated candidates to succeed him: Surakiart from Thailand, Jayantha Dhanapala from Sri Lanka, Ban KiMoon from South Korea and Shashi Tharoor from India. South Korea joined CICA as a member at the summit, which also agreed to set up a secretariat office in Almalty, Kazakhstan. Thaksin said CICA should have economic links with Asia Cooperation Dialogue. "Both organisations should have cooperation, particularly on energy," he said. He added that he invited Kazakhstan to use Thailand as an investment and export centre because Thailand is a gateway to the region. The Nation
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