On 8 October 2009, the second day of his economic roadshow to India, Deputy Prime Minister Korbsak Sabhavasu held roundtable discussions with leading Indian businessmen from multi-sectors, including the film industry, in Mumbai. He delivered a Lunch Talk on “Enhancing Trade and Investment Promotion: Thailand and India” to around 150 members of the Indian and Thai business and media sectors. The DPM also called on Mr. S.C. Jamir, Governor of Maharashtra to discuss tourism cooperation and attended a reception in the DPM’s honour, hosted by the All India Association of Industries (AIAI).
DPM Korbsak’s Lunch Talk covered the immense future potential of India, the potential for Thai participation in India’s historical infrastructure improvement initiative, the potential sale of Thai ethanol alternative energy from tapioca to India, tourism cooperation and the promotion of greater collaboration in Asia with India, China and ASEAN, which together play a greater role in driving the regional and global economies.
In the various discussions, the Indian side showed interest on various issues, such as Thailand’s trade and investment promotion policies, sector-specific policies including the film and petrochemical industries, as well as the government’s eco car project.
The DPM’s assessment of the two-day visit and points for follow-up include the followings.
1. India will be making massive and much-needed investment in its infrastructure, which presents excellent opportunities for investment by the Thai private sector. In this regard, the visit of Mr. Kamal Nath, India’s Minister of Road Transport and Highways to attend an ESCAP meeting in Bangkok this December affords an excellent opportunity for follow-up of the matter.
2. The Indian tourism market has shown stability and resilience with the number of Indian visitors to Thailand remaining steady at around 600,000 a year in spite of the global economic crisis. This warrants further development and promotion of this reliable and valued market.
3. Thailand should target an increase in the value of bilateral trade from USD 6 billion to USD 10 billion by the end of 2010. In this regard, the ASEAN-India FTA should facilitate trade growth. In the meantime, Indian private sector and media have shown much interest in the prospects for resumption of Indo-Thai FTA negotiations.
4. There is a need to come to a realization that Asian countries should collaborate and depend more on one another rather than to wait for global economic recovery to come from elsewhere outside the region. In this context of greater regional self-help, India and China have a key role to play.
5. Although brief, this visit to India has served great utility in preparing for the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to India, expected to take place by the end of the year.
Factoids regarding India’s tremendous potential:
1. Demand for accommodation in India stands at 24 million units. In terms of size of the Thai market, the demand for accommodation in Thailand stands at 50,000 units per annum.
2. The Government of India’s plans for major infrastructure development entail construction of equivalent to 20 kms. of roads per day, to the value of around USD 70 billion over the next 3-4 years.
3. In the past couple of years, 55 film crews visited Thailand for the production of feature films and advertisements.
For further information, please contact the Press Division, Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tel.02-6435170, Fax.02-6435169, E-mail: div0704@mfa.go.th