Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Mr Somkid Jatusripitak is due to lead a business delegation to Myanmar early next month on a visit aimed at expanding bilateral trade and investment, the Bangkok Post reported.
It quoted Mr Isara Vongkusolkit, chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, as saying the 40-member delegation would visit Myanmar on February 2 and 3.
The delegation would meet Myanmar businesspeople to discuss the possibility of investment partnerships as well as financial and capital market development, Isara said.
“We will discuss investment, particularly along the border, and improvement of roads such as those linking Singkhon and Myeik as well as Phu Nam Ron and Dawei. We will also talk about a joint special economic zone between Mae Sot and Myawaddy,” he said.
Isara said Thailand needed to explore ways to expand trade, including border trade, with neighbouring countries.
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Thailand’s Commerce Ministry estimates that border trade is expected to grow by at least three percent this year, driven by economic growth in Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam and the popularity of Thai products in those markets, the newspaper said.
Thailand’s border trade prospects were promising because the economies of the four countries were expected to continue growing by between 6 percent to 7 percent a year, said Mr Adul Chotinisakorn, the deputy director-general of the ministry’s Foreign Trade Department, the report said.
