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BANGKOK: Thailand’s lack of a formal government will not affect border security with Cambodia, the defense ministry said Saturday, as the kingdom scrambles to fill a power vacuum following the dismissal of the prime minister by the Constitutional Court.

The Southeast Asian nation was thrown into political turmoil on Friday when the court sacked prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra over her handling of a border row with Cambodia, saying she had “not upheld the ethical code of conduct.”

The ruling has left Thailand with an acting prime minister, Phumtham Wechayachai, and a caretaker cabinet which will stay on until a new government is formed as early as next week.

On Saturday morning the acting cabinet held a special meeting confirming the arrangement, with no new major announcements.

Deputy Defense Minister Natthapon Nakpanich said having an acting government would “not affect” the country’s ability to safeguard its sovereignty amid a fragile ceasefire at the border with Cambodia.

“It’s not a problem. The army chief has already assigned responsibilities to handle specific situations,” he told reporters.

Paetongtarn, daughter of billionaire ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was suspended from office last month after being accused of failing to stand up for Thailand in a June call with powerful former Cambodian leader Hun Sen, which was leaked online.

In July, tensions between Thailand and Cambodia spiralled into the two sides’ deadliest military clashes in decades, with more than 40 people killed and 300,000 forced to flee their homes along the border.

Thailand and Cambodia’s leaders agreed to an “unconditional” ceasefire at the end of July, after five days of combat along their jungle-clad frontier.

A nine-judge panel in the Constitutional Court ruled by six to three on Friday that Paetongtarn had not upheld the ethical standards required of a prime minister and removed her from office.

The ruling, which also dissolved her cabinet, came a year after the same court ousted her predecessor as prime minister, Srettha Thavisin, in an unrelated ethics case.

Paetongtarn was the sixth prime minister from the political movement founded by her father to face judgment by the Constitutional Court.

Parliament will vote on a new prime minister perhaps as early as next week, but there is no obvious replacement for Paetongtarn waiting to take over.

Parties have been eager to meet and strategise ways to secure a majority vote in parliament for their own candidates.

Under the constitution, only candidates nominated for prime minister at the last general election in 2023 are eligible.

Four of those names are out of the running, three of whom are banned by court order and one whose party failed to get enough MPs elected to qualify.

The remaining four include Prayut Chan-O-Cha, an ex-general who led a 2014 coup and served as prime minister until 2023, and Anutin Charnvirakul, leader of the Bhumjaithai party which was a former partner in Paetongtarn’s coalition government.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Friday held a key meeting with a delegation of leading investors and businessmen from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and shared with them various investment opportunities in Pakistan, an official said.

The delegation, led by Mohamed Baradei, Group CIO of the Abu Dhabi-based EIX global investment and strategic advisory firm, was briefed on the state of Pakistan’s economy and the wide-ranging structural reforms undertaken recently, according to Finance Adviser Khurram Schehzad.

Aurangzeb highlighted the achievement of a primary surplus after many years, the return of inflation to single digits, stable currency, robust foreign exchange reserves and validation from leading international rating agencies which are now aligned in their improved assessment of Pakistan’s economy.

The development comes as Pakistan, currently bolstered by a $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) program, continues to make efforts to boost trade and foreign investment as it treads a long path to sustainable economic growth.

“Senator Aurangzeb underscored the government’s commitment to addressing investor concerns, noting that taxation reforms, tariff rationalization, privatization of state-owned enterprises, and a series of bold structural measures were aimed at fundamentally transforming the DNA of the economy,” Schehzad said on X.

“He informed the investors about promising opportunities in the mining sector, especially the Reko Diq project, which is expected to significantly strengthen Pakistan’s external sector through sustainable foreign inflows.”

The UAE is Pakistan’s third-largest trading partner after China and the United States, and a major source of foreign investment valued at over $10 billion in the last 20 years, according to the UAE’s foreign ministry.

Policymakers in Pakistan consider the Emirates an optimal export destination due to their geographical proximity, which minimizes transportation and freight costs while facilitating commercial transactions.

Both countries have stepped up efforts in recent years to strengthen their economic relations. In Jan. 2024, Pakistan and the UAE signed multiple agreements worth more than $3 billion for cooperation in railways, economic zones and infrastructure.

Aurangzeb noted while Pakistan’s exports and remittances were “healthy,” the country’s stock exchange has been witnessing unprecedented activity, with over 70,000 new investors entering the market that reflected the growing confidence among both domestic and foreign investors.

He shared updates on the government’s upcoming industrial policy, which will provide a roadmap for further improving the investment climate, and noted that bold tariff reforms and the launch of digital and export promotion policies indicate the government’s future trajectory of reforms.

“[The visiting UAE delegation] expressed confidence in Pakistan’s potential, pointing to the state of its infrastructure, its demographic advantage, and the opportunities available for strategic and long-term investments,” Schehzad said.

“They emphasized that they brought not only capital but also strategic know-how to the table, and conveyed their strong interest in being ahead of the curve as Pakistan continues on its reform journey. The delegation also underscored that increasing capital and human flows between Pakistan and the UAE would contribute to deepening economic ties, noting that both countries were well positioned to grow together through mutually beneficial partnerships and collaborations.”

The finance minister reaffirmed that Pakistan attaches great importance to its partnership with the UAE and hoped that the momentum generated by this engagement will translate into concrete investments and joint ventures, further strengthening economic bonds between the two nations.