Government speeds up boosting Thailand-Malaysia trade

BANGKOK, February 6 (TNA) - As the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is scheduled to kick off by the end of this year, the Thai government, through the Ministry of Commerce, is accelerating widening cross-border trade with Malaysia, while cooperating with local entrepreneurs in the Thai South to expand their businesses to the neighbouring country. Duangporn Rodphaya, Director-General of the ministry's Department of Foreign Trade, told journalists on Friday that Deputy Commerce Minister Apiradee Tantraporn will visit Sadao and Hat Yai Districts in the southern Songkhla Province, near the Thai-Malaysian border, from February 10-11 to inspect the border trade and to chair a workshop. Rodphaya said the deputy commerce minister also plans to present the Thai government’s strategy on border trade development and an action plan to boost Thailand-Malaysia border trade during the workshop. Rodphaya noted that Sadao is one of Thailand's new five special border economic zones mapped out this year by the Thai government, in which international investors' confidence will be created so that they expand their investment in Sadao and adjacent Padang Besar, bordering Malaysia. According to the senior official, cross border trade at Sadao and Padang Besar yearly stands at about 350 billion baht and 150 billion baht respectively and both are considered as strategic routes connecting the Thai South with Singapore and China’s Kunming city. The senior official pointed out that the government’s plan to develop Sadao as a special border economic zone will help further expand goods distribution in the Thai deep South to southern China and countries in Southeast Asia via Singapore to boost employment, tourism and service businesses in the region. The deputy commemrce minister’s upcoming visit to Sadao and Hat Yai is expected to stimulate border trade with Malaysia and to help boost Thailand's overall border trade to reach 1.5 trillion baht this year, as targeted by the government. (TNA)