By IANS,
Kolkata : Bilateral trade between India and Thailand is expected to grow to $10 billion by 2010 from $6 billion last year, an official from Thailand said here Monday.
“India has increasingly become an important economic partner for Thailand. Last year, the average value of our bilateral trade has been around $6 billion and it has constantly expanded at the rate of about 28.97 percent in previous years,” said Kiat Sittheeamorn, president of the Thailand Trade Representative (TTR).
TTR is a government body, set up to promote trade between Thailand and other countries.
“We are aiming that, in 2010, the total amount of bilateral trade will reach $10 billion,” Kiat said, while speaking at an interactive session organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.
Investment from Thailand to India during 2000-2009 was to the tune of $831.2 million whereas Indian investment to Thailand in 2008 alone stood at $282.11 million.
The industrial sectors in which Thai investments are prominent in India are telecommunication, hotel, tourism, food processing, trading and chemicals.
Earlier in the day, Kiat met the leader of the opposition in West Bengal Partho Chattopadhyay of the Trinamool Congress.
Regarding the meeting, he said: “We have conveyed that trade and investment regime in India should be made more competitive so that everyone is interested to come over here.”
Asked about his outlook of the growth in the tourism sector in both countries, Kiat said: “This area will certainly grow a lot. At least half a million Indians visit Thailand every year, compared to 60,000 Thai people visiting India.”
He added that two more high-level Thai visits are scheduled for this year — Prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva in November and Deputy Prime Minister Korbsak Sapawasu in October.