MoUs signed with China for support
The Commerce Ministry yesterday signed two memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with the Chinese Embassy in Thailand and the Mekong Institute as a commitment for China to provide financial support worth US$1.7 million (53 million baht) for three years to help enhance intra-regional economic links among the Mekong subregion.
The financial support is aimed at enhancing collaboration projects of the Mekong-Lancang Cooperation (MLC) between six countries: Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The target is to increase cross-border trade among the six countries to $250 billion by 2020.
Commerce Minister Sontirat Sontijirawong said these two MoUs attest to the commitment between Thailand, China, and the founding members of the MLC.
Thailand views the MLC as the most important vehicle to promote sustainable development in the Mekong subregion and to reduce disparity among MLC members, said Mr Sontirat.
The Commerce Ministry has proposed four projects to benefit small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) and increase cross-border trade, including the promotion of e-commerce and building business networks, business matching, as well as improvement of trade facilitation through joint one-stop services such as e-customs for logistics development.
Under Mekong-Lancang initiative projects, trade volume is targeted to increase to $250 billion in 2020 among MLC countries. In 2017, trade volume among the six countries stood at $220 billion, up 16% year-on-year.
Thailand’s trade volume with five MLC countries stood at $109.5 billion last year. Thailand’s trade volume with China registered $73 billion, while Thailand’s trade volume with neighbouring countries was worth a combined $35 billion.
For e-commerce development in rural areas, assistance will be provided to farmers, micro-SMEs and One Tambon One Product producers to form an online platform for product sales. The Mekong Institute will select products to sell through Alibaba or Taobao.
Lyu Jian, the Chinese ambassador to Thailand, said MLC countries share the Lancang-Mekong River as a natural connection and have all enjoyed rapid economic growth, which is a basis for stronger cooperation.
The first MLC Leaders Meeting in 2016 endorsed the “three plus five” cooperation framework, referring to three pillars for cooperation, including political and security, as well as economic and sustainable development.
“Five” refers to five priority areas, including connectivity, industrial capacity, cross-border economic cooperation, water resources and agriculture, and poverty reduction.