Meeting with H E Dr Surakiart Sathirathai Hon'ble Minister of Foreign Affairs - Thailand
July 13, 2001

Welcome Address by Mr. Chirayu R Amin, President, FICCI

H.E. Dr. Surakiart Sathirathai, Hon’ble Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Shri Shashank, Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs
Mr. V K Duggal, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Commerce,
Distinguished delegates & friends,

On behalf of FICCI, may I extend a warm welcome to the Hon’ble Foreign Minister and accompanying members of the delegation.

India and Thailand have long-standing commercial ties. We are delighted that this millennium has once again brought us together and the coming months will witness a greater interaction between our two nations. We, in FICCI, are already working towards the next interface between our business and industry under the Forum of India-Thailand JBC scheduled for 11th September, 2001 in Delhi this year.

In tandem with our "Look-East Policy" we have focussed on strengthening our economic links with the countries of ASEAN. Thailand is our important trading partner. We are allies in various regional fora, including BIMSTEC (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka - Economic Cooperation). Jointly, we can voice the concerns of the developing countries in such multilateral fora as the WTO. It is therefore crucial that we open the doors between our two countries fully to enhance our bilateral trade and investments.

Our bilateral trade today stands at a little less than US$ 1 Billion, and a target of 2 billion trade turnover will be a true reflection of our complimentarity. And this we can achieve through concrete projects and by facilitating greater market access to each other.

Our relations with Thailand have also grown in diverse fields. Besides gems & precious stones, marine products, iron & steel, we have enhanced our exports of chemicals, drugs and pharmaceuticals, light engineering goods & IT related products. Our imports from Thailand have also graduated from traditional agro-related products to more value-added items. Electronic products, synthetic fiber, auto parts and other manufactured items are increasingly entering the trade basket.

India and Thailand are significant investment partners. Indian companies have several successful Joint Ventures with your industry. As business operations move into cyberspace, there are new opportunities and challenges that we have to confront. Infrastructure, Food Processing, IT and Tourism, are some Sectors, which we at FICCI consider as priority areas for further strengthening bilateral economic partnership.

In our last Joint Business Council Meeting held in 1999 in Bangkok, the issue of high tariffs was pointed as a bottleneck in our bilateral trade. Our Government has been implementing economic reforms since 1991, which have covered the entire spectrum of our economy. Our progressive trade policies reflect our dedication to globalisation and liberalisation. Lowering of our tariffs, removal of Quantitative Restrictions (QRs) on almost all items, allowing 100% FDI under automatic route - have opened new vistas of cooperation.

It has been our constant endeavour to build stronger ties with your country. I am sure that in our forthcoming meeting in September, new projects will be concretised between us & we will be able to evolve a comprehensive Action Plan for enhancing our trade & investments.

May I once again welcome all our friends from Thailand with the hope that new synergies are forged between our two great nations.