Trade mission to India set for next month

Commerce Minister Porntiva Nakasai will lead representatives of the Board of Trade of Thailand, the Federation of Thai Industries, leading construction companies and government agencies to New Delhi and Mumbai in the middle of July.

"The trip will tighten cooperation between the two countries' governments after the new Indian administration is officially formed. It will also pave the way for Thai investors to conduct business more easily in India as a result of closer cooperation," Satish Sehgal, an adviser to Porntiva and president of the Indian-Thai Business Association, said yesterday.

The key goals of the mission are to boost Thai exports to India, in particular fruit and other agricultural produce, as well as promoting investment growth.

Farm products seen as having export potential are by-products of tapioca, fresh fruits and food crops. The five fruits to be promoted in India are rambutan, longan, mangosteen, pomelo and sweet tamarind.

Moreover, the emerging middle class in Indian cities will also increase demand for Thai products, as the Kingdom is well known for its quality goods, said Satish. Non-agricultural items with potential are home decorative items, processed food and services such as restaurants, spas and healthcare.

India has a population of more than 1 billion people, about 300 million of whom are categorised in the emerging middle class with high purchasing power.

Leading construction companies such as Ital-Thai, Ch Karnchang and Nawarat Patanakarn will participate in the mission in order to seek investment opportunities in India. The Indian government has allocated US$100 billion (Bt3.4 trillion) this year for developing the country's transportation system, said Satish.

During the mission, Porntiva will meet with Roads Minister Kamal Nath to discuss opportunities for the Thai private sector to do business there.

Porntiva will also meet the commerce and industry minister to discuss finalisation of the Thailand-India Free Trade Agreement on trade in goods.

Satish believes that once the new Indian government has settled in, it will finalise negotiations of the FTA by year-end.

Under the early-harvest scheme of the FTA, Thailand currently enjoys zero tariffs for only 82 items exported to India.

The Kingdom has set an ambitious target to boost two-way trade to $7.5 billion this year, from $6 billion last year.

Bilateral trade is expected to exceed $10 billion by 2012, on optimism that the free-trade pact will be implemented early next year, Satish added.