Business circles from Russia and Thailand discussed practical ways to further expand trade, economic, and investment cooperation. Dozens of Thai and Russian companies of the two countries participated in the business dialogue "Russian Far East and Arctic – exploring new perspectives and opportunities ", which was held in the Thai capital, Bangkok under the auspices of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF).
The event was held on the margins of the 8th Session of the Joint Russian-Thai commission on bilateral cooperation, and was organized by the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic, Russian Far East and Arctic Development Corporation, with the support of the Trade Representation of the Russian Federation in the Kingdom of Thailand, the Federation of Thai Industries and the Roscongress Foundation.
Welcoming remarks at the opening session were made by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand Mr. Don Pramudwinai, Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic Mr. Aleksey Chekunkov, Ambassador of the Russian Federation in the Kingdom of Thailand Mr.Evgeny Tomikhin, Chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries and Thailand-Russia Business Council Mr. Kriengkrai Thiennukul. The business dialogue was moderated by Mr. Jumrud Sawangsamud, Director General of the Federation of Thai industries. According to Aleksey Chekunkov, Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic, who heads the Intergovernmental commission on the Russian side, the disruption of logistics routes and the instability of the global banking and financial system have had a negative impact on the volume of bilateral economic cooperation. "The resumption of the work of the Joint Russian-Thai Commission on Bilateral Cooperation in the traditional format, as well as holding the offsite session of the EEF in Thailand - the first step to build a qualitatively new, systematic work on organizational and advisory support to business of both countries, "- he noted.
Priority directions are organization of export-import operations, improvement of efficiency of logistics, mutual settlements and cargo insurance. One of the areas for development, in which Thailand is interested - is the seafood. For the purpose of strengthening of trade, economic and humanitarian ties special working groups on industrial energy, agriculture, inter-bank and trade-economic cooperation were created under the Intergovernmental commission. Practical issues of exports to Thailand of services and technologies, the implementation of projects in the field of energy, transport infrastructure, "smart" and safe city were discussed.
Mr Sergey Skaliy, Deputy CEO for Investment Projects Support of the Russian Far East and Arctic Development Corporation, spoke about development prospects, economic potential, and key projects in the Russian Far East and Arctic.
Mr Alexander Priskoka, Deputy Commercial Director for Asia Business Development of FESCO Integrated Transport LLC, made a presentation on development of container transportation between Thailand and Russia.
"A number of our companies-residents of the Advanced special economic zones (ASEZ) and the Free Port of Vladivostok (FPV) are working on the development of cold storage facilities and logistics of perishable goods, including refrigerated containers, freezers in the port and the entire infrastructure, which, as they say, from plantation to store shelf allows to deliver fresh products at a reasonable price. It is obvious that it is much closer to deliver any goods from South-East Asia to Russia via Far East ports, and we hope that other companies will follow the example, which is being implemented by FESCO transport group here, opening eastern logistics routes for Thai companies" - Aleksey Chekunkov noted.
Besides, the parties discussed cooperation of the two countries within the Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), the most important infrastructure project in the South-East Asia and the free economic zone linking China, India and the ASEAN region.
Particular attention was paid to the development of cooperation in the tourism sector. Before the pandemic, about 1.2 million Russian tourists a year vacationed in Thailand. After the lifting of pandemic restrictions, the growth of tourist flow from Russia resumed - only in the first months of this year Thailand was visited by more than 390 thousand travelers from Russia.