Tokyo - Visiting Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Friday invited Japan to seek new investment opportunities in Thailand's industrial and agricultural sectors now that the political situation in the country has returned to normalcy.

Calling Japan "the most important trade and investment partner and important origin of tourists for Thailand," Abhisit said at a Tokyo press conference that he chose Japan as his first destination for an official visit since he assumed office on December 15.

"In the last month, we have made considerable progress. Now we have a government that is moving forward," the Thai prime minister said. "We are now back to having a government and also parliamentary system that work for the people and for the national urgency in a timely manner."

Abhisit was in Tokyo with a delegation of key ministers from Thailand to restore confidence in his nation and invite investment and tourism back from Japan.

In addition to street protests and an airport blockage by anti-government protestors last year, Thailand has also been affected by the global economic downturn, Abhisit said.

In the last quarter of 2008 Thailand nation saw "a substantial drop in export and tourism" due to a loss of purchasing power abroad, he said.

But the new Thai government introduced a reconciliation programme and economic package that will bring Thailand back to the worldly renowned "land of smiles, the land of opportunity and the land of the free," he said.

As Japan has a strong production base in Thailand, a stronger currency rate, the need for high quality food as well as [a] production base for alternative fuel cars, Abhisit said "Thailand can become a very important partner in the future."

With the Japan-Thailand economic partnership agreement, the trade and investment of Thailand already increased by 20 per cent, he said.

"I believe that the way Thailand and Japan worked together in the past to get us through the financial crisis of 1997 is an important lesson of how we might get through the current crisis," Abhisit said, adding that the cooperation should not only be on a bilateral basis but a multilateral basis involving other nations in the region.

Abhisit, who arrived in Japan on Thursday, was accompanied by ministers of commerce, industry and tourism as well as Thai business leaders. (dpa)