Thai Trade Center, Mumbai, Royal Thai Consulate-General along with the Department of International Trade Promotion, Ministry of Commerce, Thailand successfully held a Business Matching Event & Business Seminar Event in Bengaluru at ITC Gardenia Hotel, Bengaluru, which was presided over by the Honorable Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Commerce, Thailand – H.E. Jurin Laksanawisit, Mr Bose Nair, Vice President, World Trade Centre Bengaluru, Kochi, Chennai along with other dignitaries from Thailand.
Other leading partners such as Crescendo Worldwide, Pune; World Trade Center Bengaluru; Bangalore Chamber of Industry & Commerce and Indo-Thai Chamber of Commerce were responsible for the success of this exclusive Business Networking Event. The day saw participation from around 34 Thailand companies and over 100 Indian companies who indulged in B2B meetings from the sectors of Construction Materials, Furniture, Interior Design, Modified Starch, Rubber Wood, Rubber, Fruits, Food, A4 Paper, Stationery, Cosmetics, Bio-Plastics, Bio-Fertilizers, Lubricants to name a few. It turned out to be a wonderful platform to test various Thai & Indian products and an initiative to attract the Indian Companies to invest in Thailand and also do business jointly with the Thai Companies.
Honourable Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Commerce, Thailand – H.E. Jurin Laksanawisit addressed the gathering and spoke about various benefits that will be given to Indian Companies by the Thailand government helping the Indian Companies in Investing in Thailand. The visit of Deputy Prime Minister is the second time after his success of trade connection in Mumbai and Chennai. The meeting led to the signing of many MoUs, namely cooperation between Indian Rubber Wood and Thai Furniture Association, and the beginning of cooperation between Bigbasket and Thailand’s Department of International Trade Promotion. This visit also presented an apt opportunity to build bilateral relation between South India & Thailand both in terms of mutual trade and investment.
Sharing his thoughts, Mr. Bose Nair, Vice President, World Trade Center, Bangalore, Kochi, Chennai said, ‘The event paved the way to understand and explore many business opportunities to the interested companies from both the countries across sectors in India and Thailand. On behalf of the World Trade Centre, I take this opportunity to congratulate the delegation led by Honourable Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce, Thailand – H.E. Jurin Laksanawisit for the successful event. Such initiatives will only further strengthen the International trade ties between the countries for a brighter future.
A panel discussion on “Potential Business Creation & Opportunities between India and Thailand in the Hospitality & Smart Building Solutions focusing on sectors like Architecture and Technology Trends in 2020; Residential/Real Estate; Hotel Industry; Construction Industry & Services; Infrastructure (Urban Infrastructure) also met with great enthusiasm and appreciation from the attendees.
This visit also helped to build bilateral relation between South India & Thailand, both in terms of mutual trade and investment, especially to utilize the existing benefits from Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). Both countries share two FTA’s, the first FTA being the Early Harvest Scheme, under which there are 83 items for which there is zero duty when importing to India from Thailand. The second FTA is the ASEAN Agreement which is between India and ASEAN Countries, under this scheme there are more than 5,000 items that can be imported to India under reduced tariff, and some products can be imported even duty-free. The duty rates are being reduced year by year for various products until the import duty for all products is reduced to zero duty rates. Hence, there is a huge opportunity for mutual business growth and there have been four high-level visits from Thailand during these twelve months.
