Cosying up to India for trade
Thailand is tightening trade ties with India, hoping to increase the trade value between the two countries by 4% this year.
With more logistics links between Thailand and India, as well as the free-trade pact with Asean, trade value between Thailand and India has risen over the past few years to reach US$7.7 billion (257.6 billion baht) in 2016, said Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn.
Of the total annual trade value, Thai exports to India were worth $5.7 billion and Thai imports from India were worth $2 billion, Mrs Apiradi said.
New communication routes linking India to Myanmar and the latter to Thailand’s western border city of Mae Sot have helped increase trade value.
“From Tak, the links will be stretched further to the Eastern Economic Corridor, which the government is investing a lot of money in to connect the EEC to other parts of the country in order to attract foreign investment, including Indian investors,” Mrs Apiradi said.
That would match Thailand’s plan to welcome more Indian investment in the EEC soon, she said.
Several Indian companies have started investing in Thailand, mostly in plastics, feedstuffs and electronics, according to Mrs Apiradi.
She said more connectivity between India and Asean countries would also make Thailand more appealing in the eyes of Indian investors, since Thailand is located in the centre of Asean.
The Asean countries are also pushing ahead with attempts to complete trade talks on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), expecting it to help increase trade value not only between Thailand and India, but across Asia-Pacific.
The RCEP is a proposed free-trade deal of the 10 Asean member states, plus Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.
Thailand will host the Asean-India Expo, to take place Aug 2-5 at Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre. The event will celebrate 25 years of Asean-India relations.
Sanan Angubolkul, chairman of the Thailand-India Business Council, said India has strong potential, with a GDP forecast of 7-8% growth by the World Bank.
He said India’s strong GDP growth should provide room for Thai business to tap into benefits, particularly in the tourism, hotel, medical, food, construction and electronics sectors.