Russia, Thailand strengthen economic ties

MOSCOW, February 25 (TNA) - Thailand is strengthening bilateral relations with Russia, especially economic ties, as comparative advantages of both countries support each other. Thai Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, who oversees economic affairs, told TNA of the strategic policy on Thursday, while paying a visit to Russia and Belarus during February 23-26 together with Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan and a Thai business delegation. Somkid said his group's ongoing four-day trip to Russia is aimed to explore ways to strengthen bilateral trade and investment with Russia and to make preparations for an upcoming visit to Russia by Thai Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha, scheduled for May 18-19, to attend the Russia-ASEAN Summit, marking the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Russian-ASEAN partnership. Somkid pointed out that Russia is one of the world's superpowers and has abundant natural resources, including oil and gas, which could assist Thailand, while Thailand is one of the world's major food and agricultural producing countries, which could meet Russia's demand. Somkid foresaw that both Russia and Thailand should gain mutual benefit if long-term cooperation was sustained although their two-way trade has declined over the past few years, caused by economic problems in Russia. Initially, Somkid noted, the Thai Ministry of Commerce has set a target that bilateral trade value between Russia and Thailand should increase to the previous level and should further raise to some 10 billion US dollars annually over the next five years. According to the Thai deputy premier, Russia is an important market, like the US and the Chinese markets, while Thailand is considered a gateway to the ASEAN Community (AC), which is vital in Asia; so, strengthening relations with Russia is significant for Thailand. The deputy premier also acknowledged that the Thai prime minister wants to see agreements between Moscow and Bangkok on trade and investment protection and cooperation on science and technology. So far, the deputy premier revealed, Thailand's Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group has invested in the cattle sector in Russia, while two other Thai firms have invested in sugar and cosmetics in the Russian market, expressing his hope that Thai small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) would follow suit in the future. The deputy premier also expressed his optimism that the number of Russian tourist arrivals in Thailand should be rising, after a drop from more than one million to to about 800,000 annually now. Meanwhile, Thai Airways International (THAI), the national flag carrier, has been asked to resume its direct flights to Moscow soon after its flights there were cancelled in March 2015. (TNA)