The international business community still wants to invest in Thailand, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva affirmed on his return Sunday from the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Switzerland, where the WEF organisers proposed to lead world business leaders to Thailand to explore investment opportunities in June this year.

The prime minister visited Davos, Switzerland for the 39th annual economic summit January 30-February 1 to rebuild confidence among foreign investors in the Thailand's economy.

Speaking by telephone during his weekly address broadcast on Thailand's NBT state television, Mr. Abhisit said that during the meeting he had had the opportunity to meet many world governmental, business, and mass media leaders.

Many business leaders had told him that they are eager to invest in Thailand, Mr. Abhisit said, adding that the sponsors of the Davos forum proposed to invite a delegation of potential investors to explore business opportunities in Thailand before attending a regional forum in South Korea.

Meanwhile, a World Tourism Organisation (WTO) executive had told him that his agency will issue a report detailing how Thailand had resolved its problems, including tourism, which Mr. Abhisit said could be useful in explaining Thailand to the world.

The prime minister also said that at Davos, he had participated as a panelist on a highlight session entitled 'Rebooting the Global Economy' where he stressed that solving economic problems should not end with setting up further trade and investment barriers.

Mr. Absihit was also a panelist on a central session addressing 'Fresh Solutions for Food Security', as well as tourism, which could benefit Thailand's agriculture and tourism sectors.

Prime Minister Abhisit said he had met Philippines President Gloria Arroyo Magapagal and proposed setting up an ASEAN rice reserve to benefit the Southeast Asian region.

If Thailand succeeded in pushing the idea, it would be benefit Thai rice farmers as the rice price is expected to rise.