FAISALABAD: Thailand Consul General Thatree Chauvachata Thursday said political consultation at secretary level and meetings of Joint Economic Commission will be held during this year to further bolster economic relations between Pakistan and Thailand.

Addressing the business community of Faisalabad in Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI), he expressed satisfaction over the political, economic and diplomatic relations between the two countries and said Pakistan has been actively participating in Asian Cooperation Dialogue while Thailand also supported Pakistan in its entry to ASEAN Regional Forum. “In 2004 both countries signed MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) on Anti Terrorism and other related crimes”, he said.

The Thai Consul General said they also established a working group to further strengthen the mutual cooperation for the exchange of intelligence and related information.

He said the Thai government through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been providing annual international training course, short course programs and scholarships to various countries including Pakistan in the field of economy, food security, public health and climate change.

“As many as eleven Pakistani officials had received this training during 2018”, he maintained.

Regarding trade relations, he said Pakistan is one of Thailand’s significant trade and commerce partner. “In 2019, the bilateral trade between two countries jumped to 1466.63 million US dollar”, he said.

He maintained that Thailand exported goods and services worth 1174.25 million dollar to Pakistan. Among these included automobiles, crude oil, chemicals, rubber products, machinery and polymer, etc.

“Similarly Pakistani export to Thailand recorded an increase of 41.45 percent in 2019”, he said and added that among these export items includes fresh aquatic animals, garments and textile, etc.

About Thai investment in Pakistan, he said Pakistan ranks 36th of Thailand in global trade while it ranked second in South Asia. He maintained that 4 major Thai companies have already invested in Pakistan while another 4 are exploring new opportunities for investment in Pakistan. “Very recently Pakistan’s Electro-Polymers Private Limited and Thai Stanley Electric Public Company Limited have inked a historic partnership by signing international Tri-party Joint Venture with Japan, Thailand and Pakistan.

He said Thailand and Pakistan have been discussing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) since 2013 and hopefully it would be finalised very soon. Moreover, a delegation of the Thailand Board of Investment had visited Pakistan in June and had detailed meetings with Federal Board of Investment, State Bank of Pakistan and other related departments.

To a question, he said Thailand is a major destination for tourists and last year around 80,000 Pakistani tourists visited the country.

Earlier, FCCI vice-president Zafar Iqbal Sarwar said bilateral trade balance is in favor of Thailand and hence, we must enhance Pakistani exports particularly in textile sector to balance our bilateral trade. He also mentioned China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects and told that large numbers of Chinese are regularly visiting Faisalabad and hence, Thai Air Line should start flights of Thai Airline for Faisalabad through Bangkok.

Earlier a documentary on Faisalabad and FCCI was screened while Engineer Asim Munir, Engineer Babar Shehzad, Azhar Chaudhry, Haji Gulzar Ahmed and Talat Mehmood attended the question-answer session. Later, Zafar Iqbal Sarwar Presented FCCI shield to Thatree Chauvachata.