Deputy PM encourages the UK to invest more in Thailand

BANGKOK, July 31 (TNA) -- Thai Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak held talks with British International Trade Minister Mark Garnier, during which he encourages the United Kingdom to use Thailand as a production base to relay products into the CLMV grouping. The deputy premier told reporters after his talks with the newly appointed British International Trade Minister on Friday that discussions were focused on economic cooperation between Thailand and the United Kingdom. The talks have focused on various fields in which the British side is an expert of, where as Thailand has the policy to encourage more investment in, such as the aviation industry, education, bio-based industry, and financial services, particularly the British's FinTech technology, which Thailand is very interested in. Meanwhile, Mr Somkid pointed out that current talks on bilateral economic cooperation between both sides would be unofficial for the time being, as the UK has just recently voted to leave the European Union (EU) grouping and would now be faced with a limit time frame of when official talks could take place with various countries. Nonetheless, the deputy premier said both sides have planned to organise a joint meeting in the coming October called, the "Thai-UK Business Leadership Council", aiming to create a platform for both countries' private sectors to discuss future business collaboration. He then added that he expressed understanding on Britain's decision to leave the EU and affirmed Thailand's confidence in the country's economy and industry, after which he also voiced his predictions that Britain would only face a short term of economy problems. (END)